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give the devil his due

idiom

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


Anchors to
Related idioms8entries
  1. 01

    dance with the devil

    To engage in risky and immoral behavior.

  2. 02

    devil dancing

    Risky, reckless or potentially 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

    don't give up your day job

    Somewhat sarcastic but usually good-natured advice used to criticise a person's degree of talent (especially in music or other performing arts), implying that they are unlikely to be successful.

  6. 06

    due course

    Regular or appropriate passage or occurrence

  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 a damn

    To be concerned about, have an interest in, to care (about something).

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