Mephistopheles

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Railroad magnate and speculator Jay Gould was dubbed “the Mephistopheles of Wall Street” by ministers on the pulpit.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 2, 2025

Höfgen’s most acclaimed role — and yes, he’s talented — is as the demon Mephistopheles in Goethe’s “Faust,” who persuades the hero to sell his soul in return for worldly wealth, status and pleasure.

From New York Times • Sep. 11, 2020

Rubbing his hands together, gleefully, like some kind of cut-rate Mephistopheles.

From The New Yorker • Oct. 28, 2019

Like Faust, he’s incessantly creative and ambitious; like Mephistopheles, he has in a sardonic eye for human vanity and striving.

From The Guardian • Jul. 16, 2018

In short, she was the ideal victim and was selected as such by Mephistopheles who, whatever else he may have been, was a judge of character.

From Memoirs of an American Prima Donna by Kellogg, Clara Louise