heinous

adjective

hei·​nous ˈhā-nəs 

: hatefully or shockingly evil : abominable

a heinous crime

heinously adverb

heinousness noun

Did you know?

For eons, humans have contrasted love with hate and good with evil, putting love and good on one side, and hate and evil on the other. The association of hate with evil is baked into the etymology of heinous, which English gained directly from Anglo-French in the 14th century with the meaning we still know today; its source is the Anglo-French noun haine, meaning “hate.” Haine in turn comes from a verb of Germanic origin, hair, also meaning “to hate.” (The similarity between this hair and the other hair is coincidental.) Chaucer’s poem “Troilus and Criseyde” provides an early example of heinous in English: “He rang them out a story like a bell, against her foe who was called Polyphete, so heinous that men might on it spit.”

Examples of heinous in a Sentence

While admittedly the crimes rappers commit have often been more heinous than those committed by other entertainers, rappers seem to face more opprobrium. Though hip hop has become mainstream, much of mass media still has antiquated ideas of rap music and rappers. —Vibe, May 2001

The verdict … also defined rape for the first time as a crime against humanity, one of the most heinous crimes. The tribunal has previously tried cases involving rape, but defined the rape as torture. —Marlise Simons, New York Times, 23 Feb. 2001

It's hard enough to figure out what a defendant was thinking when he committed the heinous and bizarre act that has made him a candidate for the insanity defense. And state of mind is what the insanity defense is all about. —Laura Mansnerus, New York Times Book Review, 26 Oct. 1997

These murders were especially heinous.

people accused of committing heinous crimes

Recent Examples on the Web

This is generally considered a serious crime, but less heinous than planning to kill someone. — Ariane Lange, Sacbee.com, 6 Aug. 2026

In the end, on charges related to often heinous crimes — committed over more than a decade at a massive, multinational scale — only 6,487 Germans were convicted, according to McKale. — Fern Schumer Chapman, Chicago Tribune, 5 Aug. 2026

By the end of the film, Steve is revealed to be Afton, who wears an animatronic bunny suit while committing his heinous crimes. — Britt Hayes, Entertainment Weekly, 3 Aug. 2026

Keith threw a heinous retaliatory elbow that concussed Sedin and from which his shooting percentage never recovered. — Sean McIndoe, New York Times, 25 July 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French hainus, heinous, from haine hate, from hair to hate, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German haz hate — more at hate

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for heinous

• anus
• grayness
• greyness
• janus
• planus
• calanus
• pandanus

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Kids Definition

heinous

adjective

hei·​nous ˈhā-nəs 

: shockingly evil : abominable

heinously adverb

heinousness noun

Legal Definition

heinous

adjective

hei·​nous ˈhā-nəs 

: enormously and shockingly evil

a heinous crime

heinously adverb

heinousness noun