diablerie


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di·a·ble·rie

 (dē-ä′blə-rē, -ăb′lə-)
n.
1. Sorcery; witchcraft.
2. Representation of devils or demons, as in paintings or fiction.
3. Devilish conduct; deviltry.

[French, from Old French, from diable, devil, from Latin diabolus; see devil.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

diablerie

(dɪˈɑːblərɪ; French djɑbləri)
n
1. (Other Non-Christian Religions) magic or witchcraft connected with devils
2. (Other Non-Christian Religions) demonic lore or esoteric knowledge of devils
3. (Other Non-Christian Religions) the domain of devils
4. devilry; mischief
[C18: from Old French, from diable devil, from Latin diabolus; see devil]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

di•a•ble•rie

(diˈɑ blə ri, daɪˈæb lə-)

n.
1. diabolic magic or art; sorcery; witchcraft.
2. the lore of devils; demonology.
3. reckless mischief; deviltry.
[1745–55; < French, Old French, =diable devil + -erie -ery]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

diablerie

noun
2. Annoying yet harmless, usually playful acts:
Informal: shenanigan (often used in plural).
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
References in classic literature ?
"Never was born!" persisted Topsy, with another grin, that looked so goblin-like, that, if Miss Ophelia had been at all nervous, she might have fancied that she had got hold of some sooty gnome from the land of Diablerie; but Miss Ophelia was not nervous, but plain and business-like, and she said, with some sternness,
In her play-hours, she invariably had every child in the establishment at her heels, open-mouthed with admiration and wonder,--not excepting Miss Eva, who appeared to be fascinated by her wild diablerie, as a dove is sometimes charmed by a glittering serpent.
"You have--have you?" thought I; "there is diablerie in the business after all, then!"
Indeed to say the truth, that trait of mind in the philosophic Bon-Bon did begin at length to assume a character of strange intensity and mysticism, and appeared deeply tinctured with the diablerie of his favorite German studies.
Les trois heritiers d'un terrain forestier de plus de 21 hectares se sont vu alambiquer ces lopins, a travers une sordide diablerie, digne des plus vereuses des manigances.
Perhaps even the diablerie of modern German romance, of Hoffman, Baron de Fouque, and others, has more of reality than most readers suspect." (The spirit rapper, chap.
I was using this trope to attract attention and to bring out a sense of diablerie in participants I wanted them to have fun and feel they were doing something risque--but the big secret of the project was that it's really nothing to do with sex.
1455-1508) and reinterprets his oftcited apotheosis to nineteen great musicians in the Livre de la Diablerie (1508)--discovering during the process associations between the chant melody of his Missa Dixerunt discipuli and the superius of the famous anonymous song II sera pour vous / L'homme arme.
To some readers, Ben Dibbuk, the protagonist in Mosley's 2007 book of erotica, Diablerie, recalls dybbuks, the wandering spirits of the dead that invade the living in Jewish folklore.
However, it is the skeleton detective who uncovers the plot by the Diablerie to open the Gateway allowing the old gods, the Faceless Ones, to re-enter the world, bringing death and destruction to all.
Canada's Relyea, who's become a valued Met mainstay in recent seasons, had been, a few minutes earlier--after a slightly unruly Kermesse Chorus--the first solo singer of the evening, appearing in a flash of gilded smoke looking the very image of a plumed, pantalooned fin-de-siecle Mephisto and singing "Le veau d'or" with seemingly well-practised diablerie. (Scheduled for the trio.