Word.ws English Dictionary

speak of the devil and he shall appear

speak of the devil and he shall appear is the alternative form of speak of the devil.

Meaning of speak of the devil

Phrase

speak of the devil

  1. (humorous, idiomatic) An expression sometimes used when a person mentioned in the current conversation happens to arrive on the scene.
    • A: You know who would appreciate this? Tom. B: Speak of the devil! Look who just walked in!
    Synonyms:
    speaking of

Forms of speak of the devil and he shall appear

alternative formspeak of the devil and he appears

Questions about speak of the devil and he shall appear

What is speak of the devil and he shall appear the alternative form of?
Speak of the devil and he shall appear is the alternative form of speak of the devil.

Words near speak of the devil and he shall appear in the dictionary

  1. speak like a book
  2. speak now or forever hold your peace
  3. speak of
  4. speak of the devil
  5. speak of the devil and he appears
  6. speak of the devil and he shall appear
  7. speak one's conscience
  8. speak one's mind
  9. speak out
  10. speak out of turn
  11. speak softly and carry a big stick

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: speak of the devil and he shall appear (page history and authors); speak of the devil (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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-speak of the devil and he shall appear.ogg.

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