like hell

idiom

informal + impolite

1

: very much

My back hurts like hell.

2

: with a lot of energy and speed

We've been working like hell since morning.

3

: very bad

This place looks like hell.

4

—used to say in an angry and forceful way that one will not do something, does not agree, etc.

"It's your fault!" "Like hell it is!"

Examples of like hell in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Now those same baby boomers, mostly in their 70s, are fighting like hell against the next revolution, and for the moment seem to be winning. —Chris Stirewalt, The Hill, 20 June 2025

Maryland out of the Big 10 is trying like hell to win in football, but its national sports reputation is basketball. —Mac Engel, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2 Apr. 2025

Collins works like hell to get a uterine tamponade inserted to stop the bleeding. —Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 13 Mar. 2025

Females are fighting it out, females are fighting like hell, females leave each other. —Patrick Gomez, EW.com, 7 Mar. 2025

The job is simple in those minutes: Attack the hoop and defend like hell. —Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 27 Feb. 2025

So regardless of what happens in album of the year, Swifties could be very pleased with the outcome of Grammy night, then turn their attentions toward rooting like hell for Kansas City in the Super Bowl next Sunday. —Jason Lipshutz, Billboard, 31 Jan. 2025

Their choice: make nice and cooperate — or fight like hell? —Anthony Man, Sun Sentinel, 30 Jan. 2025

One writer has remarked that the Hamilton boys could drive like hell and were afraid of nothing. —Michael Barnes, Austin American-Statesman, 22 July 2024

Rhymes for like hell

• bagatelle
• caravel
• carousel
• carrousel
• citadel
• clientele
• commonweal
• decibel
• demoiselle
• fontanelle
• infidel
• isabel