Satan

Biblical
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Adversary of God and tempter of humanity, often conflated with Lucifer

Detailed Definition
Satan, the accuser in Job and tempter in Eden, embodies rebellion, deception, and opposition to divine will. In poetry, he represents evil, pride, and the seductive allure of defiance.
Example
Example in poetry:
In John Milton’s "Paradise Lost," Satan’s “Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven” embodies defiant pride; In Dante’s "Inferno," Satan is frozen in ice, chewing traitors as ultimate evil; In William Blake’s "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell," Satan represents revolutionary energy; In Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “Prometheus Unbound,” Satan’s rebellion is reimagined as liberation; In W.B. Yeats’s “The Second Coming,” Satanic chaos replaces divine order; In modern poetry, Satan often symbolizes anti-authoritarianism or moral complexity.
Additional Notes
Satan, the adversary in Abrahamic traditions, represents rebellion, temptation, and the allure of forbidden knowledge; poets from Milton to Blake reimagine him as tragic hero, revolutionary, or psychological projection—his complexity lies in his charisma and suffering, making him a vehicle for exploring free will, evil, and the limits of divine justice.
Also Known As
Adversary Prince of Darkness Tempter of Eden
Skip to main content