the devil
"the-devil" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“the devil” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adverb. 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) - Used to add emphasis to a question or statement.
Corpus desk
Index EN-the-devil · the devil · English
the devil · 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 "T" 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 | the devil |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “the devil” in English
Rare enough to double-check
the devil is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Used to add emphasis to a question or statement.".
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for the devil, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct English form is the devil, spelled T-H-E- -D-E-V-I-L.
Definition
- 1Used to add emphasis to a question or statement.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how the devil appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
What the devil are you doing here at this time of night?
VVhat is he an honeſt man? the deuill he is, he is the Parſon of the Towne, You thinke ther’s no knauerie hid vnder a black gowne, Find him in a pulpit but twiſe in the yeare, And Ile find him fortie times in the ale-houſe taſting ſtrong beare.
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.