English Reference
Idiom idiom

devil dancing


Risky, reckless or potentially immoral behavior.

Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.


SIMPLE

He knows that gambling with his savings is just devil dancing.

CONTEXTUAL

The manager warned the team that ignoring safety regulations was essentially devil dancing with their careers.

COMPLEX

By consistently ignoring the warnings of his advisors, the young king was effectively devil dancing on the edge of a political catastrophe.


Related idioms8entries
  1. 01

    blue devils

    Low spirits; depression.

  2. 02

    dance with the devil

    To engage in risky and immoral behavior.

  3. 03

    devil in disguise

    A person or thing that appears to be good, honest, or upstanding, but is inherently nasty, evil, or damaging.

  4. 04

    devil lies in the details

    Synonym of devil is in the details.

  5. 05

    devil's advocate

    One who debates from a viewpoint which one may not actually hold, usually to determine its validity or simply for the sake of argument.

  6. 06

    devil's luck

    astounding good luck.

  7. 07

    folk devil

    A person or type of person blamed by the public for various ills, as during a moral panic.

  8. 08

    give the devil his due

    To acknowledge the positive qualities of a person who is unpleasant or disliked.

Last updated August 10, 2026