Word.ws English Dictionary

arch-fiend

arch-fiend is the alternative spelling of archfiend.

Meaning of archfiend

Noun

archfiend (plural archfiends)

  1. A chief fiend (devil, demon or monster).
    • Of those [spirits] who rebelled some became devils, fiends or archfiends, according to the manifold proportions of their transgression.1886, Charles Bigg, The Christian Platonists of Alexandria, Oxford: The Clarendon Press, Lecture 6, p. 197
    Synonyms:
    archdemon, archdevil
  2. (transferred sense) A diabolically evil person.
    • […] her Arch-fiend and Devil of a Lord, had impudently sent the same Villain to abuse her once again.1690, anonymous translator, The Royal Wanton (attributed to Gregorio Leti), London: F.B., Part 5, p. 48

See all 3 meanings of archfiend

Forms of arch-fiend

pluralarch-fiends

Questions about arch-fiend

What is arch-fiend the alternative spelling of?
Arch-fiend is the alternative spelling of archfiend.

Words near arch-fiend in the dictionary

  1. arch-commanders
  2. arch-criminal
  3. arch-criminals
  4. arch-enemies
  5. arch-enemy
  6. arch-fiend
  7. arch-fiends
  8. arch-heresies
  9. arch-heresy
  10. arch-heretic
  11. arch-heretical

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: arch-fiend (page history and authors); archfiend (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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