satan
noun
Simple meaning
The supreme evil spirit in the Abrahamic religions, who tempts humanity into sin.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
saytuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈseɪtən
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
religion
The supreme evil spirit in the Abrahamic religions, who tempts humanity into sin; the Devil; (Theistic Satanism) the same figure, regarded as a deity to be revered and worshipped.
religionJudeo-Christian and Islamic religions
Chief spirit of evil and adversary of God; tempter of mankind; master of Hell
countable
A person or animal regarded as particularly malignant, detestable, or evil; used as an epithet or as a name for an animal.
Anything that causes destruction or is viewed as evil.
countable
A demon follower of Satan (principal evil spirit); a fallen angel.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The supreme evil spirit in the Abrahamic religions, who tempts humanity into sin; the Devil; (Theistic Satanism) the same figure, regarded as a deity to be revered and worshipped.
Used this way, satan is a reasonably familiar word with a faintly unfavourable edge. This is a religious use: it carries the weight of tradition and ceremony.
- Emotional tone
- Slightly negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Critical or judgemental
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Religion/spirituality
- Historical writing
Nearby words
- old nick , rarer, so it draws attention
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
Share your sentence
Similar Words, What’s the Difference?
Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
Related to chief spirit of evil and adversary of God.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: supreme evil spirit in the Abrahamic religions
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “satan” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.