A friendship between people who act like fiends or demons toward each other, or a malevolent alliance; a playful term for a mischievous friendship.
From fiend (Old English 'fēond', originally 'enemy') combined with the suffix -ship (Old English 'scipe', meaning state or condition). The modern usage blends the sense of 'devilish friend' with traditional friendship language.
This word reveals how English lets us combine words creatively to express contradictions—'fiendship' sounds like friendship but means something darker. Many slang terms like this appear in fantasy literature and gaming communities where characters bond through evil schemes rather than wholesome acts.
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