Jekyll and Hyde

[jek-uh l, jee-kuh l] /ˈdʒɛk əl, ˈdʒi kəl/
noun
1.
a person marked by dual personality, one aspect of which is good and the other bad.
Origin
after the protagonist of Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886)
British Dictionary definitions for Jekyll and Hyde

Jekyll and Hyde

/ˈdʒɛkəl; haɪd/
noun
1.
  1. a person with two distinct personalities, one good, the other evil
  2. (as modifier): a Jekyll-and-Hyde personality
Word Origin
C19: after the principal character of Robert Louis Stevenson's novel The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886)
Word Origin and History for Jekyll and Hyde

in reference to opposite aspects of a person's character, from Robert Louis Stevenson's story, "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," published 1886. The surname Jekyll is of Breton origin and was originally a personal name.

"Though so profound a double-dealer, I was in no sense a hypocrite. Both sides of me were in dead earnest; I was no more myself when I laid aside restraint and plunged in shame, than when I labored, in the eye of day, at the furtherance of knowledge or the relief of sorrow and suffering." [Robert Louis Stevenson, "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," 1886]

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