devilment
/ˈdɛv(ɪ)lm(ə)nt/
"devilment" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“devilment” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Devilish action or conduct; wickedness; (more generally) troublemaking behaviour; mischief; (countable) an instance of this.
Corpus desk
Index EN-devilment · devilment · English
devilment · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "D" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | devilment |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈdɛv(ɪ)lm(ə)nt/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “devilment” in English
Rare enough to double-check
devilment is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈdɛv(ɪ)lm(ə)nt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 5 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for devilment, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From devil + -ment (suffix forming nouns indicating the actions or results of what is denoted by the words it is attached to). The correct English form is devilment, spelled D-E-V-I-L-M-E-N-T.
Definition
- 1Devilish action or conduct; wickedness; (more generally) troublemaking behaviour; mischief; (countable) an instance of this.
- 2A devilish, mischievous, or reckless nature; mischievousness.
- 3Something cruel or evil; also, something which causes distress or suffering.
- 4Something cleverly constructed.
- 5A dish which is devilled (“made piquant or spicy”); a devil; also, the elements of the dish which make it spicy, or the piquancy or spiciness of the dish.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how devilment appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
He lived so long, and in his worldly matters prospered so much, there was so little sign of devilment in the accomplishment of his wishes, and the increase of his prosperity, that Simon, at the end of six years, began to doubt whether he had made any such bargain at all, as that which we have described at the commencement of this history.
It was just so with my Joe—always full of his devilment, and up to every kind of mischief, but he was just as unselfish and kind as he could be—and laws bless me, to think I went and whipped him for taking that cream, never once recollecting that I throwed it out myself because it was sour, and I never to see him again in this world, never, never, never,…
Etymology
From devil + -ment (suffix forming nouns indicating the actions or results of what is denoted by the words it is attached to).
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.