HEINOUS Synonyms: 128 Similar and Opposite Words

heinous

adjective

Definition of heinous

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

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of heinous Hitler and his Nazis committed the most heinous crimes against humanity, including the extermination of six million Jews, and more than three million non-Jews, because of the Aryan supremacy ideology. — Letters To The Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 23 Sep. 2026 Two juries in Chicago and New York City convicted Kelly of a series of heinous crimes involving minors and child pornography. — Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 21 Sep. 2026 In addition to the lack of concrete evidence, the prosecution had to work against the notion at the time that a woman could not feasibly commit such a heinous crime. — Lynsey Eidell, PEOPLE, 17 Sep. 2026 The six accounts that the company’s moderators left up had shared many heinous videos, including a toddler being struck in the face with a frying pan, a girl being beaten with a baseball bat, and a baby being kicked. — Jon Christian, Futurism, 9 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for heinous

Recent Examples of Synonyms for heinous

Adjective

There’s a slickness to the carnage that rubs uncomfortably against the film’s humanist ethos, rendering artificial (for all Shen Teng’s trembling and mouth-contorting labors) the horrific tragedies that befall its characters.

— Beatrice Loayza, Variety, 13 Oct. 2026
What happened to you was horrific, and there is nothing that any of us can say today that will make this any easier.

— Eric Mack, FOXNews.com, 12 Oct. 2026

Definition of horrific

Adjective

Against the backdrop of a gruesome day, the Hebrew-language movie unfolds individual emotions and lives both before and during the attack, everyday problems of course not stopping with the tragedy, just interacting with it.

— Steven Zeitchik, HollywoodReporter, 7 Oct. 2026
For centuries, this scene has been believed to show Harold’s gruesome end.

— Alicja Zelazko, Encyclopedia Britannica, 7 Oct. 2026

Definition of gruesome

Adjective

Hersh was held hostage for 328 sickening, agonizing, and starving days until his captors executed him with five other young and luminous people in a tunnel underneath Gaza.

— Rachel Goldberg-Polin, Time, 6 Oct. 2026
The idea of my dad’s enduring intense treatments and sickening side effects for the rest of his life was dreadful.

— Trisha Thadani Kirsten Potter Tanya Pérez Devin Murphy, New York Times, 4 Oct. 2026

Definition of sickening

Adjective

That’s likely to inspire either affection or immediate exhaustion, depending on your fondness for the infamously disgusting performance group.

— Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 8 Oct. 2026
People tend to think of waste as trash, sewage, slag, manure and other seemingly useless or disgusting substances.

— Edward D. Melillo, The Conversation, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of disgusting

Adjective

And then none of it mattered because his special teams bailed him out with a big kick return (thanks to a terrible decision by Eagles coach Nick Sirianni to even allow a kick return in the first place) followed by a walk-off field goal.

— Dan Zaksheske OutKick, FOXNews.com, 12 Oct. 2026
The story follows the transformation of Adriana (Colin), a woman shattered by a terrible murder and who discovers the strength to start over, driven by an unquenchable thirst for justice.

— Rafa Sales Ross, Variety, 11 Oct. 2026

Definition of terrible

Adjective

Despite the identically horrible records, these teams are in different places.

— Parker Gabriel, Denver Post, 9 Oct. 2026
In all, the Dodgers drowned out that horrible tomahawk chop with some mighty hacks of their own, winning 3-1 while finally displaying some of the desperation that had been missing.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2026

Definition of horrible

Adjective

Without all that, the series misses out on the ugly, earthy, sensual details that could have complicated her past blank innocence.

— Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 6 Oct. 2026
Earlier this season, the Seahawks coach described a dispute with Payton that got ugly enough for Seattle to threaten a lawsuit.

— Dan Zaksheske OutKick, FOXNews.com, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of ugly

Browse Nearby Words

heinies

heinous

heinousness

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“Heinous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/heinous. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of heinous

adjective

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