WordWealth: diablerie

diablerie \dee-OB-luh-ree; -AB-\, n., pl.
1. diabolic magic or art; sorcery; witchcraft. 2. the domain or realm of devils. 3. the lore of devils; demonology. 4. reckless mischief; deviltry.

[1745–55; < F, OF, equiv. to diable DEVIL + -erie -ERY] (Random House Webster's Unabridged). Look at Thesaurus

She invariably had every child in the establishment at her heels, open-mouthed with admiration and wonder,--not excepting Miss Eva, who appeared to be fascinated by her wild diablerie, as a dove is sometimes charmed by a glittering serpent. —— Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin

His worst excesses of unfeeling diablerie belong to his early days. —— Robertson Davies, "The Making of a 'Dublin Smartie'", New York Times, Oct 30, 1988

While there is something humdrum about being bad, and an irritating banality in the act of doing wrong, high drama can be achieved with the words ''sinning'' and ''evil.'' Greene indulged himself by casting his actions in these terms. Right and wrong did not much interest him, but good and evil did. He was a sucker for diablerie. Orwell remarked that Greene seemed to share the idea, ''which has been floating around since Baudelaire, that there is something rather distingué in being damned.'' —— Paul Theroux in 'Damned Old Graham Greene', New York Times, Oct 17, 2004

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