魔鬼的樣子，魔鬼的心眼
這一族最貼近字面：先是長得像魔鬼，再往內走一層，變成心眼像魔鬼。
adjective · C1
Looking like a devil, or like something that belongs to a devil: the horns, the red face and the pointed tail that pictures and stories give one.
魔鬼模樣的
核心畫面
A useful way to hold devilish is to start with the ending. In English, -ish says a touch of, not the real thing. So devilish is not the devil itself; it is a trace of the devil left on something. Left on a face or a , it is horns and a red mask. Left on a plan, it is cruelty and cunning, and left on a hard task it is difficulty that feels deliberate. Left on a smile, it becomes the promise of small trouble, the kind that ends in laughing. And when people want any word to sound bigger, they reach for the devil too, so devilish can end up meaning nothing more than very.
devilish 可以先從 -ish 這個尾巴想起。-ish 通常不是「就是」，而是「有幾分像」。所以 devili…更多收起
devilish 可以先從 -ish 這個尾巴想起。-ish 通常不是「就是」，而是「有幾分像」。所以 devilish 可以想成：不是魔鬼本人，是被魔鬼沾到一點的樣子。沾在臉上、沾在雕像上，就是角、紅臉、面具那種長相。沾在計畫上，就是陰狠、專門害人；沾在一件難事上，那份難會像是故意的。沾在笑容上，就變成「我要整你了」的壞笑，有搗蛋，沒有惡意。最後，英文想把話說得很誇張的時候也愛拿魔鬼來放大，所以 devilish 有時候只剩下「非常」這個意思。From the word’s history
Wiktionary records devilish as Middle English develissh, that is devil plus the ending -ish, and lists the same build in Dutch duivels and German teuflisch. For the modern word the ending is the part that matters: it marks a resemblance rather than an identity.
Wiktionary 記載 devilish 來自中古英文 develissh，也就是 devil 加上 -ish，並列出荷蘭文 duivels、德文 teuflisch 是同樣的造法。對今天的用法來說，關鍵在 -ish：它標的是「像」，不是「是」。
packet evidence: Wiktionary etymology_text for devilish (source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:601954110:39107)
Three branches
壞得討人喜歡
同樣是沾到魔鬼，但份量調到最輕：只剩下「準備搗蛋」的那一點點，所以變得好笑、甚至好看。
adjective · B2
Showing that you are about to do something naughty or make a little trouble, in a way that other people find funny or attractive. It is used about a smile, a look, a laugh, or a person's sense of humour.
壞壞的；促狹的
拿魔鬼當放大鏡
這一族已經不指任何壞事了。魔鬼只剩下「極端」這個印象，被借來把後面的字加重。
adjective · C1
Put in front of a noun to make it stronger, meaning very great in amount or degree: a devilish nuisance is a very big nuisance. This use is informal and sounds old-fashioned to many speakers today.
極大的；要命的