The Devil's Dictionary

About “The Devil's Dictionary”

The Devil's Dictionary was first created in 1881 as a weekly column and was later compiled and published in 1906 under the title The Cynic's Word Book. The author had no control over the title, which was imposed by the religious concerns of a newspaper that had previously published parts of the work. This title led to many imitations, with numerous books titled The Cynic's This and The Cynic's That, most of which were poorly written. These imitations caused the word "cynic" to lose favor, making any book with that title seem untrustworthy before it was even published. Some humorists also borrowed parts of the work, and many of its definitions and phrases became part of common speech. The author explains this to avoid accusations of plagiarism and to clarify that he is simply returning to his own work.