bedevil
to make constant trouble for someone or something
TRANSLATION
bedevil (someone) = plagen, belasten, quälen to bedevil sth. = etw. erschweren --- GOOGLE INDEX bedevil: approximately 434,000 hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
BEDEVILLED by the details. After the euphoria of last year’s peace deal in Mindanao, the task is to make it stick.
The Economist
The Economist
Did you
know?
bedevil
verb
- to trouble (someone or something) in a constant or repeated way: to cause repeated problems for (someone or something)
(Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
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Originally, in the mid-1700s, the verb bedevil referred to diabolical treatment or abuse, in other words, the way you would treat someone if you were possessed by a satanic spirit.
About a century later, it also came to mean that you "make someone crazy with worry" by causing trouble, and behaving like the devil himself.
Now it primarily refers to behaviour or activity that is troublesome for a person (The candidate's campaign has been bedeviled by a chronic lack of organization).
You can also use it to refer to being in a confused or perplexed state (When the boy continued to moo like a cow, his behaviour bedevilled even the child psychologist).
It might help to remember the word bedevil by thinking of "a bit like a devil". Note also that the word evil is contained in devil. However, the pronunciation is different. Bedevil rhymes with level and evil rhymes with upheaval.
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SYNONYMS
annoy, bother, curse, harass, provoke, torture, torment
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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"Decision-making has been bedevilled by unnecessary bureaucracy."
verb
- to trouble (someone or something) in a constant or repeated way: to cause repeated problems for (someone or something)
(Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
---
Originally, in the mid-1700s, the verb bedevil referred to diabolical treatment or abuse, in other words, the way you would treat someone if you were possessed by a satanic spirit.
About a century later, it also came to mean that you "make someone crazy with worry" by causing trouble, and behaving like the devil himself.
Now it primarily refers to behaviour or activity that is troublesome for a person (The candidate's campaign has been bedeviled by a chronic lack of organization).
You can also use it to refer to being in a confused or perplexed state (When the boy continued to moo like a cow, his behaviour bedevilled even the child psychologist).
It might help to remember the word bedevil by thinking of "a bit like a devil". Note also that the word evil is contained in devil. However, the pronunciation is different. Bedevil rhymes with level and evil rhymes with upheaval.
---
SYNONYMS
annoy, bother, curse, harass, provoke, torture, torment
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"Decision-making has been bedevilled by unnecessary bureaucracy."
