devil in disguise
1
7.8
- idiom
- Informal
:
diablo disfrazado
- You're the devil in disguise...
Examples
-
You're the devil in disguise
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The devil in disguise, oh, yes...
-
"It's the devil in disguise," I told them.
Fiction book (2000) -
You're the devil in disguise...
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...The devil in disguise
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...The devil in disguise...
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The devil in disguise...
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But moving on, we have the devil in disguise that is the Nyx Duck Plump Lip Glosses.
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And it suits me perfectly—a quiet girl who looks like an angel but is a daring devil in disguise.
Blog text (32) -
He seemed nice at first, but I soon realized he was a devil in disguise when he betrayed my trust.
Synonyms
7
6.2
A person who seems friendly but is actually dangerous or dishonest
5
8.1
A person who pretends to be friendly but secretly harms or tricks you
Antonyms
How Deceptive
- Informal
1
7.8
13
5.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly built from 'devil' (an evil being) combined with 'in disguise' (having a concealed appearance), so the idea 'appears harmless but is actually dangerous/evil' is transparently derivable from the parts. This noun + prepositional phrase composition is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will very likely infer the correct meaning.
Etymology
The phrase devil in disguise may come from old stories where the devil hid under a disguise and looked like a normal person to trick others. That's why it now means someone who seems 'friendly' but is actually 'dangerous' or 'evil'.