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
The heinous attack comes near the end of Pride Month.
—
Roni Jacobson, New York Daily News, 26 June 2025
Unfortunately, a drunken Ben makes a heinous error in judgment that abruptly extinguishes the generosity of their hosts.
—Dennis Harvey, Variety, 27 June 2025
One reason the Twins were so down and out was a heinous 17-game stretch by the pitching staff, which yielded nine runs eight times.
—Dan Hayes, New York Times, 27 June 2025
These people were convicted of very heinous murders with a sentence of life without parole.
—Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 8 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for heinous
Roni Jacobson, New York Daily News, 26 June 2025
Unfortunately, a drunken Ben makes a heinous error in judgment that abruptly extinguishes the generosity of their hosts.
—Dennis Harvey, Variety, 27 June 2025
One reason the Twins were so down and out was a heinous 17-game stretch by the pitching staff, which yielded nine runs eight times.
—Dan Hayes, New York Times, 27 June 2025
These people were convicted of very heinous murders with a sentence of life without parole.
—Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 8 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for heinous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for heinous
Adjective
-
Throughout the Holocaust, the Nazis concentrated European Jews in urban ghettos, which were marked by horrific living conditions, forced labor and the threat of execution.—
Tom Dreisbach,
NPR,
30 June 2025
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And that's a tough sell to a jury that spent weeks listening to horrific testimony about Diddy and his empire.—
Lauryn Overhultz,
FOXNews.com,
29 June 2025
Adjective
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Accounts of government and police repression have only gotten more gruesome, with Amnesty Kenya reporting that 16 people have been shot and killed as of June 28 and local officials claiming that hundreds have been injured (while also alleging that most of those hurt were police officers).—
Mankaprr Conteh,
Rolling Stone,
30 June 2025
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Forget turning on some gruesome horror movie: reading the daily headlines is enough to make just about anyone scream.—
Christian Allaire,
Vogue,
26 June 2025
Adjective
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Also sickening is Aja, transforming from cocoon to butterfly — unfortunately, Jasmine Masters will see her in court.—
Chris Feil,
Vulture,
4 July 2025
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The portal that allows the players to go from school to school is also sickening.—
Reader Commentary,
Baltimore Sun,
9 June 2025
Adjective
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All those TikToks sharing the most important news of the week, or the Instagram influencers reacting to a shocking headline, or the YouTubers making video essays analyzing current events — all of these could not exist without the labor and specialized knowledge of journalists.—
Reia Li,
AZCentral.com,
9 July 2025
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In addition to all the shocking Prime Day finds on sale now, J.Crew Factory is stepping up and dropping prices.—
Alyssa Grabinski,
People.com,
9 July 2025
Adjective
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Danny DeVito, who plays the hilarious and disgusting Frank Reynolds on Always Sunny, used to be married to a fellow comedy legend, Rhea Perlman.—
Allison DeGrushe Published,
EW.com,
9 July 2025
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July 7, 2025 Homa included another message from a fan that is far too disgusting to even reiterate.—
Kendall Capps,
MSNBC Newsweek,
8 July 2025
Adjective
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And because of that, it’s shielded us from the terrible things that happen downstream in the supply chain.—
Alexandra Harrell,
Sourcing Journal,
8 July 2025
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Vegas bounced back from a terrible loss to the Fever with an 86-68 win over the Sun on Sunday.—
Kilty Cleary,
MSNBC Newsweek,
8 July 2025
Adjective
-
The market is just full of butcher shops, with the most ghastly whole pigs and halves of steers hanging from horrible hooks.—
John Updike,
New Yorker,
11 July 2025
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For many who were directly affected by the flood, these post-flood days have been like waking up from a horrible nightmare.—
Bea L. Hines,
Miami Herald,
11 July 2025
Adjective
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Confirmation bias rears its ugly head, and the person convinces themselves that AI sentience is at hand.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
10 July 2025
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And by sharing the ugly parts, she's made golf feel more human.—
Devlina Sarkar,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Heinous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/heinous. Accessed 16 Jul. 2025.
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