as in horrific
very bad or evil; deserving of hate or contempt
These murders were especially heinous. the heinous brutality of the attack
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Recent Examples of heinous
That 1968 Roman Polanski horror film casts a long shadow over They Will Kill You, which also involves unwitting victims, eccentric neighbors, heinous rituals, and hell’s landlord.
—
David Fear, Rolling Stone, 26 Mar. 2026
While Brandon and Rosa Williams bear the ultimate responsibility for these heinous actions, there are, sadly, others to blame as well.
—Vaughan Bagley, Baltimore Sun, 22 Mar. 2026
The criminal actions of Peters, who was placed in a position of trust by voters, were heinous.
—Dp Opinion, Denver Post, 14 Mar. 2026
However, the achievements — while both absolutely factually correct — came with caveats that led to heinous accusations of stat padding, ie, misleading factors bolstered their numbers.
—Tim Spiers, New York Times, 8 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for heinous
David Fear, Rolling Stone, 26 Mar. 2026
While Brandon and Rosa Williams bear the ultimate responsibility for these heinous actions, there are, sadly, others to blame as well.
—Vaughan Bagley, Baltimore Sun, 22 Mar. 2026
The criminal actions of Peters, who was placed in a position of trust by voters, were heinous.
—Dp Opinion, Denver Post, 14 Mar. 2026
However, the achievements — while both absolutely factually correct — came with caveats that led to heinous accusations of stat padding, ie, misleading factors bolstered their numbers.
—Tim Spiers, New York Times, 8 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for heinous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for heinous
Adjective
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There are people like Les Wexner and Leon Black who have allegedly had such horrific abuse and there has not been any investigations.—
NBC news,
NBC news,
5 Apr. 2026
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Because their firstborn son had just died, and so that was horrific.—
Marc Weingarten,
Los Angeles Times,
4 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Getting cleared of a gruesome crime has boosted his social cache in his upper-class neighborhood of Westmont Village, a fictional New York suburb.—
Aramide Tinubu,
Variety,
3 Apr. 2026
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And in another gruesome moment, there is a frightening shot of dozens of wedding guests covered in blood, with bodies strewn across a banquet hall.—
Patrick Ryan,
USA Today,
2 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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In a sickening moment broadcast live after Boyes’s shot missed, Long moved quickly about, shooting many hostages.—
Graham Womack,
Sacbee.com,
3 Apr. 2026
-
The feds also looked over Bied’s sickening business partnership with his co-conspirator in Indonesia, who Bied purchased multiple orangutan and Javan leopard skulls from.—
Tim Dunn,
Boston Herald,
3 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Marin stuck to her plan of staying close until a moment that changed everything with shocking swiftness — her changing her mind and going for the green on the par-5 13th for a go-ahead birdie, and Talley adding to the sad history of collapses on the back nine at the home of the Masters.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
4 Apr. 2026
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Emma’s shocking admission rattles the entire wedding party, particularly Haim’s Rachel, whose cousin was left paralyzed by an act of gun violence.—
Chris Murphy,
Vanity Fair,
3 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Living under an openly misogynistic president may have felt freakish in 2017, but by his second term, bigotry became yet another disgusting norm.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
2 Apr. 2026
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The amount of disrespect shown the Broncos is disgusting.—
Troy Renck,
Denver Post,
27 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
At that point, something terrible, something on the scale of the Maidan protests in Ukraine in 2014, is not inconceivable.—
Kapil Komireddi,
New Yorker,
10 Apr. 2026
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Between some horrendous screw-ups, terrible decision-making, and some plain old bad luck, their situation, and that of their mother, Linda Morelli (Laurie Metcalf), who is running for mayor, only gets worse.—
Maggie Fremont,
Vulture,
9 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Zack James’ shifty drumming hammers out a drum ’n’ bass redux like a panicked heartbeat while Carney Hemler’s bass lurches in slow motion, replicating the gut drop of a horrible realization.—
Nina Corcoran,
Pitchfork,
3 Apr. 2026
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Fendelman captured that horrible silence in the doc, punctuated by Littlejohn’s niece screaming, feral and raw.—
Brenna Ehrlich,
Rolling Stone,
3 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The outcome was already decided – an ugly display of basketball that was never competitive – but potentially losing Doncic proverbially sucked the oxygen out of the visitors’ locker room after the game.—
Benjamin Royer,
Oc Register,
3 Apr. 2026
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Featuring the good, the bad and the ugly, ‘Look of the Week’ is a regular series dedicated to unpacking the most talked about outfit of the last seven days.—
Rachel Tashjian,
CNN Money,
3 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Heinous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/heinous. Accessed 11 Apr. 2026.
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