Mephistophelian

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Characterized by a devilish cleverness and wickedness that tempts or corrupts others through cunning persuasion
2. Exhibiting the sly malevolence and intellectual cunning of a devil, especially through temptation and moral compromise
3. Displaying a fiendishly intelligent and malicious nature that seduces others into moral corruption or ruin

Etymology: Mephistopheles is the demon who bargains with Faust in the German legend, and "mephistophelian" is simply that name with an adjective-forming ending attached. The name itself is a literary creation: it appears in the German Faust tradition, with the figure later reshaped by Goethe and others into the suave, mocking tempter familiar today. The adjective is therefore a derivative of a proper noun rather than of any ancient word. The ending is the interesting part. "-ean" in English comes through Middle English "-an" from Old French "-ain", which descends from Latin "-ānus", itself rooted in the Latin suffix "-aeus" or "-ēus" meaning "belonging to" or "pertaining to". Its ancestry runs back through Proto-Italic to Proto-Indo-European, but English speakers simply borrowed the suffix as a tool for forming adjectives like "Lutheran" or "Shakespearean". Two spellings exist: "Mephistophelean" and "mephistophelian", the second using the "-ian" form that is also common in adjectives from proper names. Both mean the same thing, describing something cunning, sardonic or diabolically persuasive.

Synonyms: devilish, diabolical, evil, wicked

Antonyms: angelic, virtuous, good, righteous