Playfully mischievous, naughty, or wicked in a charming way; relating to the devil.
From Old English 'deofol' (devil) plus the adjective suffix '-ish,' which typically means 'having the quality of.' The suffix '-ish' softens the harshness of 'devilish' to allow for both wicked and playfully bad meanings.
This word perfectly captures the English love of understatement—when you call a prank 'devilish,' you're being mischievous about the mischief itself, making it sound fun rather than truly evil, which is why it's popular in children's literature.
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