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

But the old stories of the magicians and their bargains, of Faust and his Mephistopheles, suggest that we would be wise to fear apparent obedience as well.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 3, 2023

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

As in the traditional folktale, and as in the Christopher Marlowe play, Goethe’s Faust sells his soul to the Devil, Mephistopheles.

From The New Yorker • Feb. 1, 2016

But as a writer, never was the modern Mephistopheles, "the spirit that denieth," more worthily represented than by Balzac.

From Life Without and Life Within or, Reviews, Narratives, Essays, and poems. by Fuller, Margaret