fiend means A devil or demon; a malignant or diabolical being; an evil spirit. It carries an Arena rating of 1596, earned across 7 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, fiend ranks #664 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #694 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #815 of 17,131 for Scariest Words, #1,706 of 17,127 for Most Vivid Words.
fiend is pronounced /ˈfiːnd/.
Why “fiend” is a great word
A fiend is an intensely wicked or cruel person, a demon, or one who is obsessively devoted to something. From Middle English *fend*, *feend*, from Old English *fēond* (“enemy, fiend”), from Proto-West Germanic *fijand*, from Proto-Germanic *fijandz* (“enemy, hater”), the present participle of the verb *fijāną* (“to hate”). Unlike “enemy,” which suggests a rival in conflict, or “Devil,” the capitalized prince of darkness, *fiend* is a more general, chilling embodiment of malice or monstrous obsession. It is the cold intelligence in a predator’s eyes, the calculated cruelty in a torturer’s touch, or the single-minded frenzy of a collector who has lost all sense of proportion—the ancient, particulate verb “to hate” given a name and a face.
Etymology
From Middle English fend, feend (“enemy; demon”), from Old English fēond (“enemy”), Proto-West Germanic *fijand, from Proto-Germanic *fijandz. Cognates Cognate with Scots fient (“fiend”), Saterland Frisian Fäind (“enemy, fiend, foe”), Cimbrian faint (“enemy, fiend”), Dutch vijand (“enemy”), German Feind (“enemy, fiend, foe”), Vilamovian faeind, fajnd (“enemy”), Yiddish פֿײַנד (faynd), פֿײַנט (faynt, “enemy”), Danish fjende (“adversary, enemy, foe”), Icelandic fjandi (“enemy; fiend, demon, devil”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish fiende (“enemy”), Old Norse fjándi (“enemy; devil”), Gothic 𐍆𐌹𐌰𐌽𐌳𐍃 (fiands), 𐍆𐌹𐌾𐌰𐌽𐌳𐍃 (fijands, “enemy, foe”). The Old Norse and Gothic terms are present participles of the corresponding verbs fjá/𐍆𐌹𐌾𐌰𐌽 (fijan, “to hate”), from Prot
noun
- A devil or demon; a malignant or diabolical being; an evil spirit.
- A very evil person.
- An enemy; a foe.e.g.“We waited for our fiend to arrive.”
- The enemy of mankind, specifically, the Devil; Satan.e.g.“He proffered a pact to Satan, calling upon the Fiend and working himself into a frenzy - but his infernal majesty failed to respond.” — 1965, Attila Zohar, Kings Cross Black Magic, Sydney: Horwitz Publications, page 119:
- An addict or fanatic.e.g.“dope fiend”
verb
- To yearn; to be desperate.e.g.“I play it off, but I'm dreaming of you / And I'll try to keep my cool, but I'm fiendin'” — 1999, Macy Gray, Jeremy Ruzumna, Jinsoo Lim, David Wilder, “I Try”:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.