"what the Devil" meaning in English

See what the Devil in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Interjection

Audio: En-au-what the Devil.ogg
Etymology: Inherited from Middle English what þe devel, what devel. Etymology templates: {{glossary|Inherited}} Inherited, {{inh|en|enm|what þe devel|||g=|g2=|g3=|id=|lit=|nocat=|pos=|sc=|sort=|tr=|ts=}} Middle English what þe devel, {{inh+|en|enm|what þe devel}} Inherited from Middle English what þe devel Head templates: {{head|en|interjection|head=what the Devil?}} what the Devil?
  1. (idiomatic) Used to add emphasis to “what” when beginning a question. Tags: idiomatic Synonyms: what the dickens, what on earth, what in God's name Translations (used to add emphasis to "what" when beginning question): mitä pirua (Finnish), per la diablo (Ido), cad é an diabhal (Irish), cad san diabhal (Irish), ce dracu (Romanian), како́го чёрта (kakóvo čórta) (Russian), что за чёрт (što za čort) (Russian)
{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "Inherited"
      },
      "expansion": "Inherited",
      "name": "glossary"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "what þe devel",
        "4": "",
        "5": "",
        "g": "",
        "g2": "",
        "g3": "",
        "id": "",
        "lit": "",
        "nocat": "",
        "pos": "",
        "sc": "",
        "sort": "",
        "tr": "",
        "ts": ""
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English what þe devel",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "what þe devel"
      },
      "expansion": "Inherited from Middle English what þe devel",
      "name": "inh+"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Inherited from Middle English what þe devel, what devel.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "interjection",
        "head": "what the Devil?"
      },
      "expansion": "what the Devil?",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "intj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Russian terms with redundant script codes",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with redundant script codes",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Ido translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Irish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Romanian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Russian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "What the Devil have you done to the horse?",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "c. 1515–1516, John Skelton, Magnyfycence; republished in John Scattergood, editor, John Skelton: The Complete English Poems, 1983, →OCLC, page 166, line 922:",
          "text": "What the devyll hast thou on thy fyste? An owle?",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used to add emphasis to “what” when beginning a question."
      ],
      "id": "en-what_the_Devil-en-intj-44VpXfWS",
      "links": [
        [
          "what",
          "what#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) Used to add emphasis to “what” when beginning a question."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "what the dickens"
        },
        {
          "word": "what on earth"
        },
        {
          "word": "what in God's name"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "used to add emphasis to \"what\" when beginning question",
          "word": "mitä pirua"
        },
        {
          "code": "io",
          "lang": "Ido",
          "sense": "used to add emphasis to \"what\" when beginning question",
          "word": "per la diablo"
        },
        {
          "code": "ga",
          "lang": "Irish",
          "sense": "used to add emphasis to \"what\" when beginning question",
          "word": "cad é an diabhal"
        },
        {
          "code": "ga",
          "lang": "Irish",
          "sense": "used to add emphasis to \"what\" when beginning question",
          "word": "cad san diabhal"
        },
        {
          "code": "ro",
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "sense": "used to add emphasis to \"what\" when beginning question",
          "word": "ce dracu"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "kakóvo čórta",
          "sense": "used to add emphasis to \"what\" when beginning question",
          "word": "како́го чёрта"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "što za čort",
          "sense": "used to add emphasis to \"what\" when beginning question",
          "word": "что за чёрт"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-what the Devil.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/38/En-au-what_the_Devil.ogg/En-au-what_the_Devil.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/En-au-what_the_Devil.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "what the Devil"
}
{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "Inherited"
      },
      "expansion": "Inherited",
      "name": "glossary"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "what þe devel",
        "4": "",
        "5": "",
        "g": "",
        "g2": "",
        "g3": "",
        "id": "",
        "lit": "",
        "nocat": "",
        "pos": "",
        "sc": "",
        "sort": "",
        "tr": "",
        "ts": ""
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English what þe devel",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "what þe devel"
      },
      "expansion": "Inherited from Middle English what þe devel",
      "name": "inh+"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Inherited from Middle English what þe devel, what devel.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "interjection",
        "head": "what the Devil?"
      },
      "expansion": "what the Devil?",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "intj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English interjections",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms derived from Middle English",
        "English terms inherited from Middle English",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "Entries with translation boxes",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Russian terms with redundant script codes",
        "Terms with Finnish translations",
        "Terms with Ido translations",
        "Terms with Irish translations",
        "Terms with Romanian translations",
        "Terms with Russian translations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "What the Devil have you done to the horse?",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "c. 1515–1516, John Skelton, Magnyfycence; republished in John Scattergood, editor, John Skelton: The Complete English Poems, 1983, →OCLC, page 166, line 922:",
          "text": "What the devyll hast thou on thy fyste? An owle?",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used to add emphasis to “what” when beginning a question."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "what",
          "what#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) Used to add emphasis to “what” when beginning a question."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-what the Devil.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/38/En-au-what_the_Devil.ogg/En-au-what_the_Devil.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/En-au-what_the_Devil.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "what the dickens"
    },
    {
      "word": "what on earth"
    },
    {
      "word": "what in God's name"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "used to add emphasis to \"what\" when beginning question",
      "word": "mitä pirua"
    },
    {
      "code": "io",
      "lang": "Ido",
      "sense": "used to add emphasis to \"what\" when beginning question",
      "word": "per la diablo"
    },
    {
      "code": "ga",
      "lang": "Irish",
      "sense": "used to add emphasis to \"what\" when beginning question",
      "word": "cad é an diabhal"
    },
    {
      "code": "ga",
      "lang": "Irish",
      "sense": "used to add emphasis to \"what\" when beginning question",
      "word": "cad san diabhal"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "sense": "used to add emphasis to \"what\" when beginning question",
      "word": "ce dracu"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "kakóvo čórta",
      "sense": "used to add emphasis to \"what\" when beginning question",
      "word": "како́го чёрта"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "što za čort",
      "sense": "used to add emphasis to \"what\" when beginning question",
      "word": "что за чёрт"
    }
  ],
  "word": "what the Devil"
}

Download raw JSONL data for what the Devil meaning in English (3.3kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-13 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-01 using wiktextract (4ba5975 and 4ed51a5). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.