fiend

/fi:nd/

Thân thiện

A sports fiend cheers wildly for his favorite team.

Definition

1. Noun:
   • An evil supernatural being; a demon or devil: A fiend is often depicted as a malevolent spirit or monster in mythology and religion.
   • A person of great wickedness or cruelty: A fiend can be a person who is extremely cruel, vicious, or inhumane.
   • A person who is extremely enthusiastic about or addicted to something: In informal use, a fiend is someone with an intense, often excessive, enthusiasm for a particular activity or substance.

Examples of Usage

• As an evil being:
  • The story described a fiend from the underworld.
  • In the painting, the hero battles a horned fiend.
• As a cruel person:
  • The dictator was a fiend who showed no mercy.
  • Only a fiend would commit such a terrible crime.
• As an enthusiast or addict:
  • He's a fitness fiend, working out every single day.
  • She's a chocolate fiend and can't resist dessert.

Advanced Usage

• "Fiend for": Used to describe someone with a powerful craving or obsession for something.
  • He's a fiend for classic cars and owns over twenty.
• "Fiendish" (Adjective): Extremely cruel or unpleasant; clever and complicated.
  • The villain had a fiendish plan to take over the city.
  • The students struggled with the fiendishly difficult math problem.

Variants and Related Words

• Fiendish (adj): Extremely cruel or wicked; devilishly clever or difficult.
  • The puzzle was a fiendish challenge.
• Fiendishly (adv): In an extremely cruel or clever manner; to an extreme degree.
  • The room was fiendishly hot.

Synonyms

• Demon: An evil spirit or devil.
• Monster: A cruel, wicked, or inhuman person.
• Fanatic: A person filled with excessive and single-minded zeal.
• Addict: A person who is addicted to a particular substance or activity.

Related Phrases

• Dope fiend: (Slang, dated) A person addicted to narcotic drugs.
  • The old film portrayed the dangers of becoming a dope fiend.
• Speed fiend: (Informal) A person who is addicted to or excessively enthusiastic about amphetamines or fast driving.
  • He was a known speed fiend on the local racing circuit.

Related Idioms

• Work like a fiend: To work with intense, almost superhuman, energy and determination.
  • She worked like a fiend to finish the project on time.

Học thuật

Noun

1. a person motivated by irrational enthusiasm (as for a cause)
   • A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject--Winston Churchill
2. an evil supernatural being
3. a cruel wicked and inhuman person

Từ đồng nghĩa

• fanatic
• devil
• demon
• daemon
• daimon
• monster
• ogre