heinous

adjective

Definition of heinousnext
as in horrific
very bad or evil; deserving of hate or contempt These murders were especially heinous. the heinous brutality of the attack

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

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 Top law enforcement officials in Western Europe said Rio’s death is part of a growing and terrifying trend of kids being recruited and groomed online by criminal gangs to commit heinous acts. — ABC News, 12 June 2026 Seeing Biden’s devastating weakness, Russia invaded Ukraine, and Hamas terrorists launched the heinous October 7th attack on Israel. — New York Times, 11 June 2026 New York City summers are borderline heinous. — Tamim Alnuweiri, InStyle, 7 June 2026 Companies have been offering discounts, convenience, and free services in exchange for access to your data for years, from loyalty cards and cookies to dashcams, insurance apps monitoring how people drive, and that heinous smart TV that’s always showing ads. — Robert Hart, The Verge, 29 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for heinous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for heinous
  1. horrific
  2. gruesome
  3. sickening
  4. shocking
  5. disgusting
  6. terrible
  7. horrible
  8. ugly
Adjective
  • Gerardi and his horrific murder have remained relevant in the decades since.
    — Britannica Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica, 7 July 2026
  • To be sure, the thugs of Hamas and Hezbollah committed a horrific massacre of young Jewish civilians enjoying a music festival on October 7, 2023.
    — DP Opinion, Denver Post, 6 July 2026
Definition of horrific
Adjective
  • The more time passes, the more gruesome the recovery process becomes, said William Gomez, a firefighter in La Guaira.
    — Fernanda Pesce, Los Angeles Times, 6 July 2026
  • Family and loved ones are remembering Brittany Clark, the former Sacramento resident and Kennedy High School student killed by an alligator in a Florida river, as officials there released new details of the gruesome attack.
    — Darrell Smith, Sacbee.com, 6 July 2026
Definition of gruesome
Adjective
  • But there are multiple Ebola strains, and those vaccines, treatments, and tests aren’t effective against the rarer strain, Bundibugyo, sickening people today.
    — Alice Park, Time, 2 July 2026
  • Toxic fumes are leaking into airplanes and sickening passengers and crew members at an alarming rate, according to a September 2025 report by The Wall Street Journal.
    — Christopher Edwards, PEOPLE, 15 June 2026
Definition of sickening
Adjective
  • The Packers then blew a 21-3 halftime lead in the Wild Card round against Chicago, gave up 25 fourth quarter points and eventually suffered a shocking 31-27 loss to the arch-rival Bears.
    — Rob Reischel, Forbes.com, 11 July 2026
  • Here’s a look back at the most infamous, shocking, blood-curdling or mysterious crimes and disasters that captured the attention of the nation — and the world.
    — Kori Rumore, Chicago Tribune, 11 July 2026
Definition of shocking
Adjective
  • Where critics see disgusting piles of stuff, hoarders see more.
    — Shivali H. Patra, Mercury News, 8 July 2026
  • Noah Kahan is speaking out about a disgusting habit picked up by some music fans.
    — Taijuan Moorman, USA Today, 29 June 2026
Definition of disgusting
Adjective
  • With all the terrible news of layoffs and that the games industry is in a dire state, some people online have said a crash is the only way to fix things.
    — Ollie Barder, Forbes.com, 8 July 2026
  • With Te Fiti gone, a terrible darkness began slowly taking hold of the islands and their surrounding waters.
    — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 8 July 2026
Definition of terrible
Adjective
  • The toll was horrible, with some families suffering multiple deaths and injuries.
    — Kori Rumore, Chicago Tribune, 13 July 2026
  • Plus, Palmer is a horrible person — in this case, the victim is much more despicable than the thieves.
    — Oline H. Cogdill, Sun Sentinel, 8 July 2026
Definition of horrible
Adjective
  • Even when Romanzy goes off on how stupid and ugly Caleb is — and gossips that his parents abandoned him because something must be wrong with him — Mary goes along with it.
    — Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 11 July 2026
  • 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.
    — Bianca Betancourt, CNN Money, 10 July 2026
Definition of ugly

Browse Nearby Words

heinies
heinous
heinousness
See all Nearby Words

Podcast

Cite this Entry

“Heinous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/heinous. Accessed 15 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on heinous

Nglish: Translation of heinous for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 10
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
banana-mirrored
Contradictory Words Quiz Pick out which word means one thing…and the opp...
See All