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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of heinous
The shooting outside the Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. is a heinous act of antisemitic murder and terrorism.
—
Anna Commander, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 May 2025
Their Christian work turns from mentoring teenage boys to working to lock up some of the same kids in heinous adult prisons.
—Katherine Corcoran, New York Times, 20 May 2025
Experts are quick to point out that trying to attach logic to heinous acts of violence is often an unsatisfying endeavor.
—Cnn.com Wire Service, Mercury News, 20 May 2025
Can the plaintiffs establish to the satisfaction of a jury that these platforms played an active or at least negligent role in this radicalization that culminated in this heinous event?
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 19 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for heinous
Anna Commander, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 May 2025
Their Christian work turns from mentoring teenage boys to working to lock up some of the same kids in heinous adult prisons.
—Katherine Corcoran, New York Times, 20 May 2025
Experts are quick to point out that trying to attach logic to heinous acts of violence is often an unsatisfying endeavor.
—Cnn.com Wire Service, Mercury News, 20 May 2025
Can the plaintiffs establish to the satisfaction of a jury that these platforms played an active or at least negligent role in this radicalization that culminated in this heinous event?
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 19 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for heinous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for heinous
Adjective
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That this horrific upheaval comes care of Lucy’s work is the real kicker.—
Kate Erbland,
IndieWire,
9 June 2025
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This is what Qasem Hassan had feared from the start—that the horrific violence inflicted on Israelis on October 7th would be used to justify a war without limits, dehumanizing all Palestinians.—
Eyal Press,
New Yorker,
9 June 2025
Adjective
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But Trump and Epstein’s association has been out in the open for nearly a quarter century; nineties-era footage of the gruesome twosome together at Mar-a-Lago, leering at a group of young cheerleaders, has been circulating since at least 2019.—
Jessica Winter,
New Yorker,
6 June 2025
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Six decades later, Hamas would engage in a gruesome competition with Fatah to outdo one another with terrorist attacks during the 1990s and early 2000s.—
Sean Durns,
The Washington Examiner,
6 June 2025
Adjective
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But the defense is hoping to cast her recollections merely as sickening details in a deranged love story between two consenting and jealous adults.—
Anna Kaufman,
USA Today,
17 May 2025
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For years, raw sewage from Mexico has poured across the border into Southern California, fouling beaches, sickening residents and sparking diplomatic as well as environmental concerns.—
Joe Edwards,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 May 2025
Adjective
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Continuing a recent pattern of face-to-furniture collisions on the talk show, the 69-year-old's head made a momentous journey plummeting toward the program's storied table at the top of Tuesday's live broadcast, after panelist Joy Behar made a shocking joke about Sean Combs.—
Joey Nolfi Published,
EW.com,
3 June 2025
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Sunday’s result was shocking because DeRias had been so good as a freshman this season, entering this game with a 3.98 ERA.—
Walter Villa,
Miami Herald,
2 June 2025
Adjective
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Conrad wraps the conversation by being incredibly disgusting about Bella’s nether regions.—
Kimberly Roots,
TVLine,
1 June 2025
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For the next 200 years, snails only appeared in Parisian cookbooks alongside an apology for including such a disgusting ingredient.—
Garritt C. Van Dyk,
Smithsonian Magazine,
29 May 2025
Adjective
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Kids these days have attention spans crushed under the terrible weight of TikTok and Instgram.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
3 June 2025
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Heavy truck traffic has also contributed to terrible pollution in California’s Central Valley.—
Francine Kiefer,
Christian Science Monitor,
2 June 2025
Adjective
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Even with the horrible start the Red Sox still nearly came all the way back, twice drawing to within one run, but the club couldn’t get over the hump.—
Mac Cerullo,
Boston Herald,
3 June 2025
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Even on a horrible team, someone has to score, get rebounds and assists.—
Ira Winderman,
Sun Sentinel,
2 June 2025
Adjective
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Tech wealth here looks even less appealing than that of the Roy family (the expensively beige décor is even uglier).—
Kyle Chayka,
New Yorker,
4 June 2025
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During the negotiation of USMCA in 2018, the current trade agreement between the United States, Mexico and Canada that Trump managed during his first term, conversations between the President and GM occasionally turned ugly.—
Jackie Charniga,
USA Today,
3 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Heinous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/heinous. Accessed 18 Jun. 2025.
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