diabolical

diabolical
    adj 1: showing the cunning or ingenuity or wickedness typical of
           a devil; "devilish schemes"; "the cold calculation and
           diabolic art of some statesmen"; "the diabolical
           expression on his face"; "a mephistophelian glint in his
           eye" [syn: {devilish}, {diabolic}, {diabolical},
           {mephistophelian}, {mephistophelean}]
    2: extremely evil or cruel; expressive of cruelty or befitting
       hell; "something demonic in him--something that could be
       cruel"; "fires lit up a diabolic scene"; "diabolical
       sorcerers under the influence of devils"; "a fiendish
       despot"; "hellish torture"; "infernal instruments of war";
       "satanic cruelty"; "unholy grimaces" [syn: {demonic},
       {diabolic}, {diabolical}, {fiendish}, {hellish}, {infernal},
       {satanic}, {unholy}]
    

Diabolic \Di`a*bol"ic\, Diabolical \Di`a*bol"ic*al\, a. [L.
   diabolicus, Gr. ? devilish, slanderous: cf. F. diabolique.
   See {Devil}.]
   1. Pertaining to the devil; resembling, or appropriate, or
      appropriate to, the devil; befitting hell or satan;
      devilish; infernal; impious; as, a diabolic or diabolical
      temper or act; the diabolical expression on his face;
      fires lit up a diabolic scene. "Diabolic power." --Milton.
      "The diabolical institution." --Motley.

   Syn: devilish, mephistophelian, mephistophelean.
        [1913 Webster]

   2. showing a wicked cunning or ingenuity; as, the cold
      calculation and diabolic art of some statesmen.

   Syn: devilish, mephistophelian, mephistophelean.
        [WordNet 1.5]

   3. extremely evil or cruel; atrocious; outrageously wicked;
      as, diabolical sorcerers under the influence of devils;
      diabolical torturers taking pleasure in their craft.

   Syn: demonic, fiendish, hellish, infernal, nefarious,
        satanic.
        [1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5] -- {Di`a*bol"ic*al*ly},
        adv. -- {Di`a*bol"ic*al*ness}, n.
    

61 Moby Thesaurus words for "diabolical":
      Draconian, Mephistophelian, Tartarean, animal, anthropophagous,
      atrocious, barbaric, barbarous, beastly, bestial, bloodthirsty,
      bloody, bloody-minded, brutal, brutalized, brute, brutish,
      cannibalistic, cruel, cruel-hearted, cursed, damnable, demoniac,
      demoniacal, demonic, demonish, demonlike, devil-like, devilish,
      diabolic, execrable, fell, feral, ferocious, fiendish, fiendlike,
      fierce, ghoulish, hellborn, hellish, infernal, inhuman, inhumane,
      murderous, ogreish, ruthless, sadistic, sanguinary, sanguineous,
      satanic, savage, sharkish, slavering, subhuman, truculent,
      unchristian, uncivilized, ungodly, unhuman, vicious, wolfish