diabolical

adjective

ˌdī-ə-ˈbä-li-kəl How to pronounce diabolical (audio)
variants or diabolic
Definition of diabolicalnext
as in demonic
of, relating to, or worthy of an evil spirit the police quickly mobilized to track down the diabolical criminals before they struck again

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of diabolical The story follows a group of people trapped in a mysterious town where monsters haunt the streets and night and diabolical forces seem determined to terrorize and confound our heroes. — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 9 May 2026 Consider, for example, his approach to one of the most diabolical tasks in the show’s history, in which players were challenged to complete seven different sub-tasks without any hint of the correct order. — Matthew Jackson, Vulture, 12 June 2026 The diabolical reality of growth. — Literary Hub, 18 June 2026 As a result, even with better production wrinkles, some exciting challenge tweaks, and some brilliantly diabolical moves by Jesse, the season itself felt a bit snoozy and lacking in huge, iconic moments (outside of the Cody blindside, of course). — Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 22 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for diabolical
Recent Examples of Synonyms for diabolical
  1. demonic
  2. sinister
  3. malicious
Adjective
  • The devil invades a Georgetown home, and holy men have quite the job to do on a demonic little girl.
    — Brian Truitt, USA Today, 1 July 2026
  • Carlson has spoken of his own brush with demonic forces, who left him bloodied and scratched in the night, while his wife and their four spaniels slept undisturbed.
    — Eliza Griswold, New Yorker, 22 June 2026
Definition of demonic
Adjective
  • Dorothea centers on a Sacramento woman (Davis) who ran a boarding house for the less fortunate in the 1980s, but her seemingly benevolent actions belied her sinister motives.
    — Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 7 July 2026
  • The score drips with a sinister ostinato as the rats scurry into every corner of her castle.
    — Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 6 July 2026
Definition of sinister
Adjective
  • According to the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office, 37-year-old Adam Mazur-Baker was arraigned Tuesday on one count of using a computer to commit a crime and one count of malicious use of telecommunications services.
    — DeJanay Booth-Singleton, CBS News, 2 July 2026
  • This command executes malicious code inside the AppleScript directly.
    — Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 2 July 2026
Definition of malicious

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diableries
diabolical
diabolically
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Cite this Entry

“Diabolical.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/diabolical. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

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