devil

dev·il/ˈdɛvəl/noun, verb

devil is spelled D-E-V-I-L: 5 letters and 2 syllables (dev·il). It appears 20 times per million words in written English, the 4,302nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, devil means “An evil creature, the objectification of a hostile and destructive force” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of devil is devils.

How many letters and syllables are in devil?

Letters	5: D-E-V-I-L
Syllables	2: dev·il
In writing	20 times per million words; the 4,302nd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searched	none measured in search
Same letters	lived

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is devil?

Devil appears 20 times per million words in written English, the 4,302nd most frequent word form in the list.

devil0.0010.010.11101001,00010,000

rarerper million words of written Englishmore common

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce devil?

/ˈdɛvəl/
[ˈdɛvəl] ~ [ˈdɛvl̩]
/ˈdɛvɪl/

Devil has 2 syllables, split dev·il in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-devil.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with devil?

No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as devil.

Spelled with the same letters in another order: lived.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of devil

devils plural, present, singular, he/she/it
davil
debbil
deviling US, participle, present
devilling UK, participle, present
deviled US, participle, past
devilled UK, participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does devil mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

1
An evil creature, the objectification of a hostile and destructive force.
2
A man with red or orange skin and a pair of horns on his head, a pointed goatee, and a long tail, who carries a pitchfork, represents evil, and is portrayed to children as a boogeyman who punishes bad behavior.
3
The bad part of the conscience; the opposite to the angel.
The devil in me wants to let him suffer.
4
A wicked or naughty person, or one who harbors reckless, spirited energy, especially in a mischievous way; usually said of a young child.
Those two kids are devils in a toy store.
5
A thing that is awkward or difficult to understand or do.
That math problem was a devil.
6
Hell.
What in the devil is that?
7
A person, especially a man; used to express a particular opinion of him, usually in the phrases poor devil and lucky devil.
8
A printer's assistant.

verb

1
To make like a devil; to invest with the character of a devil.
2
To annoy or bother.
3
To work as a ‘devil’; to work for a lawyer or writer without fee or recognition.
4
To ghostwrite; to author while working as a ‘devil’.
5
To prepare (food) with spices, making it spicy
6
To finely grind (cooked ham or other meat) with spices and condiments.
7
To prepare (shelled halved boiled eggs, as a sidedish) by removing the yolks, adding condiments and spices to them, and placing that mixture back into (the halved eggs' whites) to be served.
She's going to devil four dozen eggs for the picnic.
8
To shred fabric into its fibres for recycling, as in the production of mungo or shoddy.