Word.ws English Dictionary

archfiend

US/ˈɑɹt͡ʃ.find/

archfiend proper noun: satan.

Proper noun

the archfiend

  1. (capitalized, often) Satan.
    • So stretcht out huge in length the Arch-fiend lay
      Chain’d on the burning Lake,1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
    • In disobedience to his God,
      Did man himself call down the rod?
      Or did th’ arch-fiend, from Heav’n that fell,
      Inspire the mischief to rebel?1759, William Kenrick, Epistles Philosophical and Moral, London: T. Wilcox, Epistle 6, page 210
    Synonyms:
    Lucifer

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
    • […] he thought for a minute with a freezing detached almost amused calm of the dreadful night inevitably awaiting him whether he drank much more or not, his room shaking with daemonic orchestras […] the vicious shouting, the strumming, the slamming, the pounding, the battling with insolent...1947, Malcolm Lowry, Under the Volcano, New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, page 342
    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
    • So this is a plot to shield this arch-fiend, and I have detected it. A word from me, and three heads besides his would roll from their shoulders!1888, W[illiam] S[chwenck] Gilbert, Arthur Sullivan, composer, “Act 2”, in The Yeomen of the Guard […] , London: Chappel & Co., […], published c. 1911

Synonyms of archfiend

Forms of archfiend

pluralarchfiends

Origin of archfiend

From arch- + fiend. Compare German Erzfeind, Dutch aartsvijand.

Questions about archfiend

What does archfiend mean?
Archfiend means satan.
What part of speech is archfiend?
Archfiend can be a proper noun or a noun.
How do you pronounce archfiend?
Archfiend is pronounced /ˈɑɹt͡ʃ.find/ (US).

Words near archfiend in the dictionary

  1. archeus
  2. Archey
  3. Archey's frog
  4. Archey's frogs
  5. Archeys
  6. archfiend
  7. archfiends
  8. archflamen
  9. archflamens
  10. archflamines
  11. archfoe

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: 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.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-archfiend.wav.

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