deviltry
Malicious playful troublemaking
Deviltry is mischief or troublemaking, often with a playful edge: The boys were up to some deviltry in the barn.
It can also mean wickedness or dealings with dark forces, though this sense is less common now.
The word has an old-fashioned, folksy quality.
Also spelled devilry.
Playful mischievous acts
- shenanigansMischievous or deceitful behavior
- tomfooleryFoolish or silly behavior
- anticsAbsurd, attention-seeking behavior
- impishnessPlayful mischievous quality
roguery · high jinks · monkeyshines · rascality · naughtiness · playfulness · japes · buffoonery
Practice of supernatural magic
- black magicEvil supernatural practice
- hexMalevolent incantation
- incantationSpoken magical formula
- conjurationMagical act of summoning
necromancy · wizardry · enchantment · voodoo · occultism · diablerie · summoning · curse
Moral corruption or evil
- malevolenceActive ill will
- spitePetty malicious intent
- crueltyDeliberate harm-causing disposition
- villainyCriminal or evil behavior
malice · iniquity · depravity · sinfulness · nefariousness · vileness · wrongdoing · malefaction
Sly, strategic dishonesty
- artificeClever deceptive strategy
- deceptionIntentional misleading of others
- trickeryDeliberate deception or fraud
- craftinessShrewd, devious cleverness
manipulation · wiliness · chicanery · scheming · stratagem · duplicity · slyness · shrewdness
pranks
Playful mischievous acts
- shenanigansMischievous or deceitful behavior
- tomfooleryFoolish or silly behavior
- anticsAbsurd, attention-seeking behavior
impishness · roguery · high jinks · monkeyshines · rascality · naughtiness · playfulness · japes · buffoonery · frolics
witchcraft
Practice of supernatural magic
- black magicEvil supernatural practice
- hexMalevolent incantation
- incantationSpoken magical formula
conjuration · necromancy · wizardry · enchantment · voodoo · occultism · diablerie · summoning · curse · spell
wickedness
Moral corruption or evil
- malevolenceActive ill will
- spitePetty malicious intent
- crueltyDeliberate harm-causing disposition
villainy · malice · iniquity · depravity · sinfulness · nefariousness · vileness · wrongdoing · malefaction · viciousness
guile
Sly, strategic dishonesty
- artificeClever deceptive strategy
- deceptionIntentional misleading of others
- trickeryDeliberate deception or fraud
craftiness · manipulation · wiliness · chicanery · scheming · stratagem · duplicity · slyness · shrewdness · conniving
- dark magicblack magic, dark magic, sorcery, witchcraft, dark arts
- Demonsdemons, demon, devils, fiends, Lucifer
- wickednessevilness, wickedness, villainy, malice, iniquity
deviltryvirtue
Moral goodness or merit
goodness · righteousness · rectitude · morality · uprightness
deviltryholiness
Sacred spiritual purity
godliness · saintliness · sainthood · sanctity · divinity
deviltrygood behavior
Acceptable, rule-following conduct
obedience · propriety · docility · compliance · orderliness
evil, devil, devious, devilish, devilry, deviled, deviling, bedeviled, bedeviling