Did you know?
Like the word devil, "diabolical" traces back to Latin diabolus, which itself descends from Greek diabolos, a word that literally means "slanderer." In English, "diabolical" has many nuances of meaning. It can describe the devil himself (as in "my diabolical visitor") or anything related to or characteristic of him in appearance, behavior, or thought; examples include "diabolical lore," "a diabolical grin," and "a diabolical plot." In British slang, "diabolical" can also mean "disgraceful" or "bad," as in "the food was diabolical."
Synonyms
Examples of diabolical in a Sentence
David French, The Mercury News, 25 Sep. 2024
The Dies Irae comes in during the final movement, in a fugue with dancing witches, a bubbling cauldron, and a diabolical orgy (in this recording, at about 3:25).
—Staff, Quartz, 25 Sep. 2024
Emma Corrin Based Their Deadpool & Wolverine Villain on Willy Wonka and a Fictional Nazi
Corrin will play the diabolical Cassandra Nova in the final installment of the Deadpool trilogy.
—Samantha Riedel, Them, 13 Sep. 2024
His predecessor had started seizing the high ground in the nuclear age with bold ideas for controlling these diabolical weapons, and other presidents would continue, in time leading to arms-control and test-ban treaties, and helping (so far) to avert nuclear holocaust.
—Andreas Kluth, The Mercury News, 29 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for diabolical 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'diabolical.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near diabolical
Cite this Entry
“Diabolical.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/diabolical. Accessed 2 Oct. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
diabolical
adjective
Share