hellscape

noun

hell·​scape ˈhel-ˌskāp 

plural hellscapes

: a hellish landscape : a harshly unpleasant place or environment

I blame growing up in Southern California—this did not prepare me for real winter, much less the frigid hellscape that is New York in January.

—Aliza Arbabanel

Meanwhile, it's heartbreaking to see Route 33, once called out by Jalopnik as "America's greatest driving road," reduced to this horrifying hellscape. And, of course, to think about all the nearby people and animals and communities being inundated with fire and smoke.

—Andrew P. Collins

Examples of hellscape in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The inaugural fest, as is well known, was launched by De Niro and Rosenthal less than a year after 9/11 turned a swathe of Lower Manhattan into a hellscape of smoke, ash and rubble. —Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 3 June 2026

The outside is a toxic hellscape that is only visible on big screens in the silo’s topmost level. —ArsTechnica, 2 June 2026

What should a person looking for a job in this AI hellscape do? —Annie Lowrey, The Atlantic, 2 June 2026

Pratt has been portraying the city as a lethal hellscape. —Los Angeles Times, 30 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1894, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for hellscape

• agape
• escape
• landscape
• lenape
• reshape
• seascape
• soundscape
• ape
• cape
• crape
• crepe
• drape