devil of a

dev·il of a

D d

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
- [dev-uh l uhv, ov ey]
- /ˈdɛv əl ʌv, ɒv eɪ/
- /ˈdev.əl əv ə/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [dev-uh l uhv, ov ey]
- /ˈdɛv əl ʌv, ɒv eɪ/

Definitions of devil of a words

noun devil of a Theology. (sometimes initial capital letter) the supreme spirit of evil; Satan. a subordinate evil spirit at enmity with God, and having power to afflict humans both with bodily disease and with spiritual corruption. 1
noun devil of a an atrociously wicked, cruel, or ill-tempered person. 1
noun devil of a a person who is very clever, energetic, reckless, or mischievous. 1
noun devil of a a person, usually one in unfortunate or pitiable circumstances: The poor devil kept losing jobs through no fault of his own. 1
noun devil of a Also called printer's devil. Printing. a young worker below the level of apprentice in a printing office. 1
noun devil of a any of various mechanical devices, as a machine for tearing rags, a machine for manufacturing wooden screws, etc. 1

See all 20 definitions of devil of a

Information block about the term

Origin of devil of a

First appearance:

before 900

One of the 4% oldest English words

before 900; Middle English devel, Old English dēofol < Late Latin diabolus < Greek diábolos Satan (Septuagint, NT), literally, slanderer (noun), slanderous (adj.), verbid of diabállein to assault someone's character, literally, to throw across, equivalent to dia- dia- + bállein to throw

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Devil of a

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Devil of a

devil of a popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 98% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.

Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".

devil of a usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer