: stubbornly and often recklessly determined or intent
hell-bent on winning
hell-bent adverb

Examples of hell-bent in a Sentence

she's hell-bent on a career in show business and heaven help anyone who gets in her way
Recent Examples on the Web Breathtakingly gory and hell-bent on a very particular type of early-aughts destruction, Final Destination 2 is a slasher movie crossed with something approaching a supernatural action film. Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 15 Sep. 2024 Mack was hell-bent on pursuing music, scribbling down his thoughts and rhymes in a composition notebook and teaching himself to play the drums. Cheyenne Roundtree, Rolling Stone, 16 Aug. 2024 Advertisement Much to unpack here, but my first thought: Is everyone with the last name DeSantis hell-bent on stripping people of their personal rights? Alex Zaragoza, Los Angeles Times, 13 Aug. 2024 These systems may not be enough to stop a hell-bent Beijing from getting boots on Taiwan’s shores. Jonathan Caverley, Foreign Affairs, 7 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for hell-bent 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hell-bent.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1731, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of hell-bent was in 1731

Dictionary Entries Near hell-bent

Cite this Entry

“Hell-bent.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hell-bent. Accessed 6 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

hell-bent

adjective
-ˌbent
: stubbornly and often recklessly determined
hell-bent on revenge

More from Merriam-Webster on hell-bent

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