What's the difference between diabolical and nefarious?

Diabolical


Definition:

  • (a.) Pertaining to the devil; resembling, or appropriate, or appropriate to, the devil; devilish; infernal; impious; atrocious; nefarious; outrageously wicked; as, a diabolic or diabolical temper or act.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) "I doubt if there are any rational people to whom the word 'fuck' would be particularly diabolical, revolting or totally forbidden," Tynan said loftily, in the middle of a discussion about how sex could be represented on stage.
  • (2) The problem with the laws used to prosecute Dieudonné, Faurisson, Gollnisch and their diabolical kind is that it can, in a peculiar way, diminish our ability to argue against them.
  • (3) In a fierce attack Sunderland’s manager described the scheduling as “diabolical” and said the league was “destroying” the game.
  • (4) The launch of the new land trust follows a 10-year campaign by Citizens UK, the national charity for community organising.Smith said: "The London housing market is in a diabolical state and needs a radical change – and this is the most radical thing out there.
  • (5) He tried to capture its character – which he described as a “diabolical contraption, a dusty hunk of electric and mechanical hardware that reminded me of the disturbing 1950’s Quatermass science fiction television series” – in a near-lifesize two metre by three metre Portrait of a Dead Witch, which he also intended as a joke about the contemporary craze for computer-generated art.
  • (6) The established stable of political characters includes McKinnon’s diabolically hilarious Hillary Clinton , and Jay Pharoah’s precise, if unremarkable, take on Obama .
  • (7) Better still, he was out of the country for the entire year of the Iraq invasion, so he could at last allow his party to move on from Tony Blair's most diabolical decision, by making a belated confession to the catastrophe, which he could do without personal blushes.
  • (8) Abbott pointedly said that in 2009 – when he ousted Turnbull as Liberal leader – the Coalition was in “absolutely diabolical difficulty because we were making weak compromises with a bad government”.
  • (9) Comparing politically enthused democratic socialists to murderous paramilitaries employed by a genocidal totalitarian regime that slaughtered leftists: well, frankly, it’s diabolical.
  • (10) He was either a brilliant or a diabolical bandit – or possibly both – who captured territory throughout the Arabian peninsula and who in 1932 declared the establishment of Saudi Arabia, a nation named after a family.
  • (11) People fleeing from Syria are fleeing from the most diabolical circumstances.” The foreign minister said Australia was working with the UN refugee agency to ascertain asylum claims.
  • (12) The diabolical behavior, conversion symptoms, and diffuse violence and cruelty of a young woman responded remarkably to treatment with lithium.
  • (13) The ornate Hindu cave-temples at Ellora were "the most wonderful thing" he had seen in India, though "too diabolic to be beautiful".
  • (14) House of Cards, his second commissioned drama series whose first season was released in February, even better demonstrates Sarandos's diabolical genius (if that is what it is).
  • (15) "I fully support the money spent on the Olympic Stadium, but for it to be only used for a month before being demolished is a diabolical waste of public money."
  • (16) History suggests that there is no diabolical plot to keep women out.
  • (17) They went from a braying sort of swagger: ‘We’ve got this day won and the government’s in diabolical trouble’ to, like, ‘Oh shit, is that the time?
  • (18) The HIV and tuberculous infections therefore constitute a kind of "diabolical duo", the degree of endemia of one of these two diseases being influenced by the other and reciprocally.
  • (19) They described it as a "diabolic" act of "extreme brutality" and stressed what they said was a premeditated plan to murder the victim and a male friend by running them over after they were dumped, apparently unconscious, from the bus in which they had been assaulted.
  • (20) They’re likely to continue to support the Republicans so long as they believe that Democrats represent a diabolical threat to the nation.

Nefarious


Definition:

  • (adv.) Wicked in the extreme; abominable; iniquitous; atrociously villainous; execrable; detestably vile.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) The author of the new bill, Mike Rogers, the Republican chair of the House intelligence committee , has said it is aimed at tracking the nefarious activities of hackers, terrorists and foreign states, especially China.
  • (2) But remember: record companies can be callous and nefarious beasts."
  • (3) "If there is evidence that a particular American is involved in terrorism or other nefarious activity, then intelligence and law enforcement agencies should absolutely investigate that person aggressively, by showing that evidence to a judge and getting a warrant.
  • (4) For decades she’s been portrayed as a Lady Macbeth involved in nefarious plots, branded as “a congenital liar” and accused of covering up her husband’s misconduct, from Arkansas to Monica Lewinsky.
  • (5) In the fevered Daily Mail version, this fact suggests a nefarious and hyperactive court, up to mischief and rejoicing in 'overruling' national authorities, better to promote the interests of sex offenders and the homicidal.
  • (6) The talks came as the RAF dropped "precision" weapons on the Central Organisation for Electronic Research, described by the Ministry of Defence as "a cover for the regime's nefarious activities".
  • (7) Muscular dysfunction has a nefarious effect on subsequent facial growth.
  • (8) Thor: The Dark World sees Chris Hemsworth's Asgardian prince forced to team up with Tom Hiddleston's crafty Loki to take down an even greater threat, Christopher Eccleston's nefarious Malekith.
  • (9) A few minutes’ walks away, are the Catacumbas del Beaterio , part of a network of tunnels used for nefarious and religious purposes: short tours began last year.
  • (10) The optional measure was designed to “provide DHS greater clarity and visibility to possible nefarious activity and connections by providing an additional tool set which analysts and investigators may use”.
  • (11) Pushkov claimed Moscow and the EU were looking to solve the gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine but were being stymied by Washington's nefarious plans.
  • (12) Meanwhile, Donald Trump appeared to accuse Obama of harbouring a nefarious secret agenda on national security, linking the president to the mass shooting.
  • (13) Look, he’s the clear frontrunner, he’s been in six debates already, answered more questions from the media than any other candidate on the stage combined.” The Fox News press release that irked Trump and led to his withdrawal read: “We learned from a secret back channel that the Ayatollah and Putin both intend to treat Donald Trump unfairly when they meet with him if he becomes president – a nefarious source tells us that Trump has his own secret plan to replace the Cabinet with his Twitter followers to see if he should even go to those meetings.” Trump derided it as “a wise guy press release .
  • (14) Until recently Bitcoin had been a largely obscure currency used by the tech-savvy , libertarians wishing to thumb their noses at central bankers and people involved in more nefarious activities such as online gambling (often illegal in the US) or drug deals .
  • (15) Time was one would head to that area whenever a nefarious local had gone missing because, in time, the body would wash up in the River Lee.
  • (16) It also warned that “the conviction and detention of an individual for being in a declared area where no evidence has been provided of a nefarious intent could be arbitrary for the purposes of international human rights law”.
  • (17) Naturally, such features can be used for nefarious ends too, but Taaki says that's the price to be paid for freedom.
  • (18) While I’m not interested in a specific individual, I’m interested in the emergent behaviour of the crowd.” Facebook Twitter Pinterest City-simulation company Simudyne creates computerised models ‘with pretty pictures’ to aid disaster-response planning But what about more nefarious bodies who are interested in specific individuals?
  • (19) Via nefarious means I've watched two episodes of Lilyhammer , BBC4's brand new "not very good thing with subtitles we're hoping to keep The Killing audience enraptured with", where a New York mob boss (Steven Van Zandt) goes into hiding in Norway with hilarious results.
  • (20) We all know about the military uses of drones (bomb lots of people, surveillance), and how drones can be used for nefarious purposes (theft, voyeurism), but there are actually some pretty cool uses for drones too.