BEDEVIL (bedevilled, bedevilling)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: bedevilled    , bedevilling   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does bedevil mean? 

• BEDEVIL (verb)
  The verb BEDEVIL has 2 senses:

1. treat cruelly

2. be confusing or perplexing to; cause to be unable to think clearly

  Familiarity information: BEDEVIL used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BEDEVIL (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they bedevil    ... he / she / it bedevils   
Past simple: bedeviled    / bedevilled   
Past participle: bedeviled    / bedevilled   
-ing form: bedeviling    / bedevilling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Treat cruelly

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Synonyms:

bedevil; crucify; dun; frustrate; rag; torment

Context example:

The children tormented the stuttering teacher

Hypernyms (to "bedevil" is one way to...):

beset; chevvy; chevy; chivvy; chivy; harass; harry; hassle; molest; plague; provoke (annoy continually or chronically)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "bedevil"):

madden (drive up the wall; go on someone's nerves)

hamstring (make ineffective or powerless)

badger; beleaguer; bug; pester; tease (annoy persistently)

oppress; persecute (cause to suffer)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

bedevilment (the act of harassing someone)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Be confusing or perplexing to; cause to be unable to think clearly

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

bedevil; befuddle; confound; confuse; discombobulate; fox; fuddle; throw

Context example:

This question befuddled even the teacher

Hypernyms (to "bedevil" is one way to...):

be (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun))

Verb group:

confuse; disconcert; flurry; put off (cause to feel embarrassment)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "bedevil"):

demoralize (confuse or put into disorder)

amaze; baffle; beat; bewilder; dumbfound; flummox; get; gravel; mystify; nonplus; perplex; pose; puzzle; stick; stupefy; vex (be a mystery or bewildering to)

disorient; disorientate (cause to be lost or disoriented)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sentence example:

The performance is likely to bedevil Sue