Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An evil spirit; a demon.
  • noun The Devil; Satan.
  • noun A diabolically evil or wicked person.
  • noun Informal One who is addicted to something.
  • noun Informal One who is completely absorbed in or obsessed with a given job or pastime.
  • noun Informal One who is particularly adept at something.
  • intransitive verb To crave (a drug, for example).
  • intransitive verb To have an intense desire for something.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An enemy; a foe.
  • noun Specifically, the enemy of mankind; Satan; the devil.
  • noun Hence, in a general sense, a devil; a demon; a malignant or diabolical being; an evil spirit.
  • noun An exceedingly wicked, cruel, spiteful, or destructive person: as, a dynamite fiend; a fire fiend.
  • noun A person who gives great annoyance; a persistent bore: as, the newspaper fiend; the hand-organ fiend.
  • noun Synonyms See devil.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun An implacable or malicious foe; one who is diabolically wicked or cruel; an infernal being; -- applied specifically to the devil or a demon.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A demon
  • noun A very evil person
  • noun informal An addict

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a cruel wicked and inhuman person
  • noun an evil supernatural being
  • noun a person motivated by irrational enthusiasm (as for a cause)

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old English fēond; see pē(i)- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English feend ("enemy, demon"), from Old English fēond ("enemy"). Cognate with Old Norse fjándi (Danish fjende, Swedish fiende), German Feind, Gothic 𐍆𐌹𐌾𐌰𐌽𐌳𐍃 (fijands), all of them meaning foe. The Old Norse and Gothic terms are present participles of the corresponding verbs fjá/fijan, to hate. Akin to Sanskrit पियति (piyati, "(he) reviles").

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Examples

  • Or shall we consider them as embodied in the word fiend, and call him Lincoln, the Fiend?

    Washington Post: Breaking News, World, US, DC News & Analysis Colbert I. King 2011

  • My best thought for your exams The muffins looks delicious and your boy fiend is so kind

    Study Break… at 2009

  • After reading your comment, I went back to determine who this ungrateful fiend is who was so anxious to renounce his or her citizenship and I was also unable to find any such post.

    Page 2 2006

  • And our favorite little fiend is on the cover - Cthulu ...

    December 2004 2004

  • And our favorite little fiend is on the cover - Cthulu ...

    Gosh darned it - we need a Cthulu Category!!! 2004

  • This happens more often with elderly people; and it was on such an occasion that I heard a catchword fiend, a moderately young person, use her pet phrase as a red lantern to stop better, if more halting, talk.

    Conversation What to Say and How to Say it Mary Greer Conklin

  • "What the foul fiend is the meaning of all this?" in the same breath inquired the father and son.

    The Hidden Hand 1888

  • As Cæcius, the "darkener," became ultimately changed into Cacus, the "evil one," so the name of Vritra, the "concealer," the most famous of the Panis, was gradually generalized until it came to mean "enemy," like the English word fiend, and began to be applied indiscriminately to any kind of evil spirit.

    Myths and Myth-makers: Old Tales and Superstitions Interpreted by Comparative Mythology 1872

  • "His Master," as he called the fiend, then directed him the road he should take.

    A Strange Story — Complete Edward Bulwer Lytton Lytton 1838

  • "His Master," as he called the fiend, then directed him the road he should take.

    A Strange Story — Volume 05 Edward Bulwer Lytton Lytton 1838

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