demonic

English

Alternative forms

• daemonic (dated), dæmonic (dated)

Etymology

From Latin daemonicus, from Ancient Greek δαιμονικός (daimonikós, “possessed by a demon, sent by a demon”), from δαίμων (daímōn), equivalent to demon +‎ -ic. Doublet of daimonic.

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: dĭmŏ'nĭk, IPA^(key): /dɪˈmɒnɪk/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒnɪk

Adjective

demonic (comparative more demonic, superlative most demonic)

1. Pertaining to demons or evil spirits; demoniac.

   Convinced that his uncle was a warlock, he rifled through his attic, looking for demonic artifacts.

   Once he had grasped the controls, he unleashed a demonic laugh that made his hostages shudder.

2. Pertaining to daemons in ancient Greek thought; concerning supernatural ‘genius’.
   • 1999, Sigmund Freud, translated by Joyce Crick, The Interpretation of Dreams, section I:

     Aristotle concedes that the nature of the dream is indeed daemonic [translating dämonischer], but not divine – which might well reveal a profound meaning, if one could hit on the right translation.

3. (by extension) Extremely cruel or evil; abhorrent or repugnant.
   • 2009, Peter Fleming, Stelios C. Zyglidopoulos, Charting Corporate Corruption: Agency, Structure and Escalation, page 40:

     Lifton goes on to argue that they can commit these demonic acts because they rationalize their behaviour. A whole array of rationalizations justified the murder of innocent men, women and children.

   • 2023 April 1, Jonathan Weisman, quoting Tucker Carlson, “Trump and Fox News, Twin Titans of Politics, Hit With Back-to-Back Rebukes”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     Texts show the star prime time host Tucker Carlson calling Mr. Trump a “demonic force,” […]

Synonyms

• demonish
• demonlike
• demonly

Derived terms

• antidemonic
• counterdemonic
• demonically
• nondemonic
• undemonic

 

Related terms

• demon
• demoniac
• demoniacal

Translations

Pertaining to evil spirits

• Bulgarian: демоничен (bg) (demoničen)
• Catalan: demoníac
• Dutch: demonisch (nl)
• Esperanto: demona
• Estonian: deemonlik (et)
• Finnish: demoninen, pirullinen (fi)
• French: démoniaque (fr)
• German: dämonisch (de)
• Hungarian: démoni (hu)
• Italian: demonico (it), demoniaco (it)
• Latvian: dēmonisks
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: demonisk

  Nynorsk: demonisk

• Occitan: demoniac (oc)
• Old English: dēofollīċ
• Polish: demoniczny (pl), biesowski (uncommon)
• Portuguese: demoníaco (pt)
• Romanian: demonic (ro), demoniac (ro)
• Russian: демони́ческий (ru) (demoníčeskij), дья́вольский (ru) (dʹjávolʹskij)
• Sanskrit: नारक (sa) (nāraka)
• Spanish: demoníaco (es)
• Swedish: djävulsk (sv), demonisk (sv)
• Tagalog: malademonyo

Anagrams

• McIndoe, cnidome, ecnomid, incomed

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin daemonicus. Equivalent to demon +‎ -ic.

Adjective

demonic m or n (feminine singular demonică, masculine plural demonici, feminine and neuter plural demonice)

1. demonic, devilish

Declension

Declension of demonic

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative/ accusative	indefinite	demonic		demonică	demonici	demonice
	definite	demonicul		demonica	demonicii	demonicele
genitive/ dative	indefinite	demonic		demonice	demonici	demonice
	definite	demonicului		demonicei	demonicilor	demonicelor