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
Aliza ArbabanelMeanwhile, 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
Andrew P. CollinsExamples of hellscape in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Here’s The Denver Post’s report card of madness. OFFENSE — A-
There was no better summation of the three-quarter hellscape that unfolded on Sunday at Empower Field than the Broncos’ second drive of the third quarter.
—Luca Evans, Denver Post, 20 Oct. 2025
More: Inmates, families describe hellscape of drugs, gangs, death in Tennessee's largest prison
Nearly 68% of the Trousdale inmates charged with crimes committed in prison are serving sentences for murder, robbery or kidnapping, according to Lawson’s analysis.
—Vivian Jones, Nashville Tennessean, 2 Oct. 2025
That's the number that showed up in the national media, in stories that described Phoenix as a hellscape, a place where children burned themselves trying to climb on playground equipment.
—Shaun McKinnon, AZCentral.com, 30 Sep. 2025
Worse, China, a starving Maoist hellscape in 1965 beginning its Cultural Revolution, now is a computing powerhouse giving no quarter to a U.S. state that overtaxes its companies and whose K-12 schools can’t produce adequate STEM graduates.
—John Seiler, Oc Register, 16 Sep. 2025
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Luca Evans, Denver Post, 20 Oct. 2025
More: Inmates, families describe hellscape of drugs, gangs, death in Tennessee's largest prison
Nearly 68% of the Trousdale inmates charged with crimes committed in prison are serving sentences for murder, robbery or kidnapping, according to Lawson’s analysis.
—Vivian Jones, Nashville Tennessean, 2 Oct. 2025
That's the number that showed up in the national media, in stories that described Phoenix as a hellscape, a place where children burned themselves trying to climb on playground equipment.
—Shaun McKinnon, AZCentral.com, 30 Sep. 2025
Worse, China, a starving Maoist hellscape in 1965 beginning its Cultural Revolution, now is a computing powerhouse giving no quarter to a U.S. state that overtaxes its companies and whose K-12 schools can’t produce adequate STEM graduates.
—John Seiler, Oc Register, 16 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hellscape
Cite this Entry
“Hellscape.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hellscape. Accessed 27 Oct. 2025.
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