English · Idiom Candidate

give the devil his due

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

To acknowledge someone's skill or achievement, even if you dislike them

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Nhận ra kỹ năng hoặc thành tựu của ai đó

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: pay the devil what is owed

Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

The politician's opponent gave the devil his due, praising her economic plan

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.

Topics: Devils & ghosts

Common questions

What does “give the devil his due” mean?

To acknowledge someone's skill or achievement, even if you dislike them Literally: pay the devil what is owed

Is “give the devil his due” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

👁 Views 0 today 0 past 7 days 0 this month 0 all time