Jekyll and Hyde

[ jek-uhl, jee-kuhl ]

noun
  1. a person marked by dual personality, one aspect of which is good and the other bad.

Origin of Jekyll and Hyde

1
After the protagonist of Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886)

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

British Dictionary definitions for Jekyll and Hyde

Jekyll and Hyde

/ (ˈdʒɛkəl, haɪd) /


noun
    • a person with two distinct personalities, one good, the other evil

    • (as modifier): a Jekyll-and-Hyde personality

Origin of Jekyll and Hyde

1
C19: after the principal character of Robert Louis Stevenson's novel The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with Jekyll and Hyde

Jekyll and Hyde

A personality alternating between good and evil behavior, as in You never know whether Bob will be a Jekyll or a Hyde. This expression comes from Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886). Also see lead a double life.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.