hellish

play

adjective hell·ish \ ˈhe-lish \

Definition of hellish

:of, resembling, or befitting hell; broadly :terrible

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hellishly

adverb

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hellishness

noun

See hellish defined for English-language learners

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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 of hellish from the Web

Thousands of people in New Orleans languished under hellish conditions for several days in the Superdome, left without enough food, drinking water or a way out despite promises of immediate help from local, state and federal officials.

— beau evans, NOLA.com, "FEMA director invokes Katrina, says Houston's convention center 'not the Superdome'," 29 Aug. 2017
There are a few hellish episodes in Earth’s unfathomably long history that make even Hollywood’s most bombastic disaster movie look like a sunny picnic.

— scott k. johnson, Ars Technica, "The end-Cretaceous mass extinction was rather unpleasant," 25 Aug. 2017
Video by Mark Davis and Chris Ochsner Mark Davis and Chris Ochsner The Kansas City Star Hellish abuse in the Ozarks An Ozarks mother is charged with murder in the death of her 16-year-old daughter, Savannah Leckie.

— max londberg, kansascity, "Morning Rush: Deadly Olathe crash closes K-10; scam warning; hellish Ozarks allegations," 24 Aug. 2017
Eventually though, Earth will resemble Venus today--a hellish world of extreme high temperatures where nothing can survive.

— sophie weiner, Popular Mechanics, "What Will Happen in the Next 100 Trillion Years?," 12 Aug. 2017
Nothing that happens in this hellish sequence (or in the eventual, futile courtroom trial that exonerated the errant cops) conveys the boiling point of social frustration that Spike Lee caught frighteningly well in Do the Right Thing.

— armond white, National Review, "Kathryn Bigelow Does the Wrong Thing in Detroit," 4 Aug. 2017
McCain told PEOPLE during a lengthy interview in 1992 on the back porch of his home in Arizona, describing the hellish moments that elapsed after a surface-to-air missile blasted the wing off his jet.

— johnny dodd, PEOPLE.com, "John McCain Tells PEOPLE How He Survived His 5 Years as a POW: ‘Faith in God, My Fellow Prisoners, and My Country’," 29 July 2017
Some cultural trends like texting and social media are just objectively great and also hellish at the same time.

— heather havrilesky, The Cut, "Ask Polly: It Seems Like My Friends Don’t Like Me," 19 July 2017
In the end, everyone will be a little more comfortable in what is an inevitably hellish experience to begin with.

— cnt editors, CNT, "Should Airlines Start Charging You to Recline Your Seat?," 5 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'hellish.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of hellish

circa 1530

HELLISH Defined for English Language Learners

hellish

play

adjective

Definition of hellish for English Language Learners

: very bad, unpleasant, or shocking

HELLISH Defined for Kids

hellish

play

adjective hell·ish \ ˈhe-lish \

Definition of hellish for Students

:extremely bad

hellish violence

Learn More about hellish

See words that rhyme with hellish Spanish Central: Translation of hellish Nglish: Translation of hellish for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of hellish for Arabic speakers

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hellish

Definition of hellish

hellishly

hellishness

Examples of hellish in a Sentence

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First Known Use of hellish

HELLISH Defined for English Language Learners

hellish

Definition of hellish for English Language Learners

HELLISH Defined for Kids

hellish

Definition of hellish for Students

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hellish

Definition of hellish

hellishly

hellishness

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Examples of hellish in a Sentence

Recent Examples of hellish from the Web

First Known Use of hellish

HELLISH Defined for English Language Learners

hellish

Definition of hellish for English Language Learners

HELLISH Defined for Kids

hellish

Definition of hellish for Students

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