Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
adjective
- having the qualities of a devil; devilish; fiendish; outrageously wicked: a diabolic plot.
- pertaining to or actuated by a devil.
adjective informal
- excruciatingly bad; outrageous
- (intensifier)a diabolical liberty
adjective
- of, relating to, or proceeding from the devil; satanic
- befitting a devil; extremely cruel or wicked; fiendish
- very difficult or unpleasant
c.1500, “pertaining to the devil,” from diabolic + -al (1). Meaning “befitting the devil” is from 1540s. Related: Diabolically.
late 14c., from Old French diabolique (13c.), from Late Latin diabolicus, from Ecclesiastical Greek diabolikos “devilish,” from diabolos (see devil (n.)).