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

In life, however, Höfgen plays Faust, the weak, tempted one, while the part of Mephistopheles is taken by the Nazi state and its functionaries.

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

“My favourite stage direction ever,” Dilley tells me between takes, “is the one telling me Mephistopheles is troubled by the Kantian dialectic.”

From The Guardian • Jul. 16, 2018

Hers is a necessary but unimportant character, as she has no solo and is merely a foil for Mephistopheles.

From Stars of the Opera by Wagnalls, Mabel