hellish

adjective

hell·​ish ˈhe-lish How to pronounce hellish (audio)
: of, resembling, or befitting hell
broadly : terrible
hellishly adverb
hellishness noun

Examples of hellish in a Sentence

We've been having hellish weather lately. The battlefield was a hellish scene of death and destruction.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The younger, David Fagen of Tampa, was a nineteen-year-old phosphate miner who worked hellish ten-hour shifts for one dollar a day. Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2025 There’s also an alien Sequid army slowly forming, Cecil Stedman (Walton Goggins) is secretly keeping Conquest incarcerated, the battle-hungry Battle Beast is alive and the demonic detective Damien Darkblood is summoning a hellish monster to fight Invincible. Jordan Moreau, Variety, 10 Oct. 2025 Paul Greengrass’s intense wildfire thriller presents the shocking, most true tale of a school-bus driver (Matthew McConaughey) who winds up having to drive a group of elementary-schoolers through the hellish flames of the 2018 Camp Fire, the deadliest in California history. Savannah Salazar, Vulture, 3 Oct. 2025 And McConaughey, as a nervy reluctant hero, steers the searing, intense narrative about normal people living through the most hellish of circumstances. Brian Truitt, USA Today, 2 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for hellish

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1530, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of hellish was circa 1530

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Cite this Entry

“Hellish.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hellish. Accessed 18 Oct. 2025.

Kids Definition

hellish

adjective
hell·​ish ˈhel-ish How to pronounce hellish (audio)
: of, resembling, or suitable to hell : infernal
hellishly adverb
hellishness noun

More from Merriam-Webster on hellish

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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