like the devil
8
8.2
- idiom
- Informal
:
como un demonio
- Wednesday, Bud was driving like the devil.
- hurt like the devil
- work like the devil
- run like the devil
Examples
-
...but dance like the devil.
-
But it did hurt like the devil.
-
Out on the job I work like the devil
-
When we get out there, stick by me and run like the devil.
-
You should also be prepared to hustle like the devil to promote and market the book on your own.
Academic text (2009) -
I think they are all working like the devil to preserve the environment; only they are too shy to mention it.
Blog text (24) -
Five minutes with me, you'd run like the devil.
-
He puts them in his pocket and turns tail and runs like the devil.
Fiction book (1991) -
We tore through town like the devil himself was chasing us, which wasn't far from the truth.
-
He ran like the devil to catch the bus before it left.
Synonyms
86
7.8
With a lot of energy and very quickly
75
7.9
Happening very quickly, with great effort or very strongly
23
6.7
Very strongly and with a lot of energy
13
8.1
Act very quickly and with great effort
12
5.6
In a very strong and angry way
6
8.1
Very quickly and with great success
5
4.4
To do something very suddenly and with great force
4
7.4
To do something with great energy and effort
4
4.7
Very quickly and with great force
2
3.7
In a very strong and violent way
1
7.0
Very quickly and in a worried or excited way
1
9.2
To do something very quickly or with great effort
1
7.6
Act with very strong, urgent energy and full focus
1
8.0
In a very quick way, like someone running fast
In a very energetic and excited way
With very strong, uncontrolled energy and effort
In a wild, fast way with little control
Acts very quickly and with great force
In a very fast way that happens almost instantly
In a way that shows great energy, speed, or skill
To act quickly and forcefully without stopping
Doing something suddenly and forcefully without thinking because you are very eager
Antonyms
How Energetic
Surface Forms
Morphology
like + the + devil
The simile marker 'like' plus 'devil' yields an interpretable image of intense, forceful behaviour because 'devil' carries strong, extreme connotations; a learner who knows both words can therefore approximate that it means doing something with great energy or force. However, the precise nuance (speed vs general intensity or malice) is somewhat cultural and idiomatic, so the meaning is not fully predictable without exposure.
Etymology
Like the devil comes from comparing an action to the devil, a wild, powerful figure in old stories. People imagined the devil moving fast and with strong force, so to do something like the devil means to do it 'with great speed' or 'very forcefully'.