Meaning & use
fiend
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Meanings
nouncountabledisapproving
A very cruel or evil person, or an evil spirit or demon in stories.
Grammar: Plural fiends: a fiend who terrorized the village.
The story's villain was a fiend who tormented the whole town.
Legends describe a fiend that lurked in the swamp.
Newspapers called the criminal a fiend.
nouncountableinformalhumorous
Someone who is extremely keen on or unable to stay away from a particular thing.
Grammar: Usually follows a noun: a fitness fiend, a sugar fiend.
Patterns
- a something fiend
My brother is a crossword fiend and does three a day.
She is a coffee fiend who needs a cup before work.
He is a speed fiend on the racetrack.
Word forms
| plural | fiends |
|---|
Common combinations
- fitness fiend
- Our neighbor is a fitness fiend.
- sugar fiend
- As a kid, I was a real sugar fiend.
- evil fiend
- The tale features an evil fiend.
- cruel fiend
- He was painted as a cruel fiend.
Synonyms and how they differ
- demon
- Refers to an evil spirit more directly and does not imply the playful 'enthusiast' meaning.
- monster
- Suggests terrifying cruelty or a frightening creature, in a wider range of uses.
- fanatic
- Means a very enthusiastic follower, but can sound negative and stronger than the playful fiend.
- addict
- Implies real dependence, while fiend for enthusiasm is lighter and jokey.
Opposites
Word family
- fiendish adjective
- extremely cruel, or very clever and difficult
- fiendishly adverb
- extremely; in a cruel or very clever way
Commonly confused: fiend or friend?
fiend vs friend
Friend is a person you like; fiend is an evil person or a keen enthusiast. Watch the order of i and e.
Practice
In 'My sister is a chocolate fiend', what does fiend mean?
Choose one answer.
Following a noun, informal fiend means a person with a strong craving or enthusiasm. The cruel-person meaning would not fit chocolate.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “fiend”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.