hell

noun

ˈhel How to pronounce hell (audio)
Definition of hellnext
1
as in inferno
the place of punishment for the wicked after death condemned to hell for their sins

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in nightmare
a situation or state that causes great suffering and unhappiness picking cotton under the hot summer sun was hell

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3
as in havoc
a state in which everything is out of order all hell broke loose when the jury's verdict was announced

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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 hell Thankfully, that wasn’t the case for a hell chicken discovered in Montana in 2011. — Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 28 Oct. 2026 The careerist has also made life hell for Erika and her family. — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 24 Oct. 2026 Time is running out for a Republican Party led astray by a president whose treacherous behavior mimics those assigned to the lowest level of Dante’s hell. — Bob Kustra, Chicago Tribune, 22 Oct. 2026 The band hovers in a razor-thin lacuna between heaven and hell, between ascension and purgatory, on the verge of going either way. — Grayson Haver Currin, Pitchfork, 15 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for hell
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hell
  1. inferno
  2. nightmare
  3. havoc
  4. abyss
  5. agony
  6. mess
  7. perdition
  8. misery
Noun
  • Unsuspecting Americans look up in shock and horror as a massive inferno erupts and engulfs them.
    — James Grebey, Time, 3 Nov. 2026
  • Real estate developer Rick Caruso, who was defeated by Bass in 2022 and had family members lose homes in the inferno, blasted Bass over her absence and the city’s struggle to combat the blaze.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 1 Nov. 2026
Definition of inferno
Noun
  • Keeping your porch looking its best will become a maintenance nightmare.
    — Tim Carter, Hartford Courant, 7 Nov. 2026
  • Druski played a nightmare birthday girl in another sketch going off on her friend Tina (Veronika Slowikowska) for eating fajitas and wearing a black bodycon dress.
    — Glenn Garner, Deadline, 7 Nov. 2026
Definition of nightmare
Noun
  • Meanwhile, the war has wreaked global havoc with no end in sight.
    — S. C. M. Paine, Foreign Affairs, 3 Nov. 2026
  • In December 2004 such a wave swept over Earth, causing some havoc.
    — Phil Plait, Scientific American, 30 Oct. 2026
Definition of havoc
Noun
  • So much of its short runtime is spent staring into an empty abyss.
    — Terrence O'Brien, The Verge, 31 Oct. 2026
  • For one day at least, the Thunder looked into the abyss and found hope in the next generation of players who suddenly will be thrust to the forefront.
    — John Hollinger, New York Times, 28 Oct. 2026
Definition of abyss
Noun
  • Taking the McDavid minutes away gives us the purest form of agony these defencemen are experiencing at this time.
    — Allan Mitchell, New York Times, 28 Oct. 2026
  • The prisoner in question, Doug Korpi, had also admitted that his agony was an act to journalist Ben Blum, who included the revelation in a broader takedown of the experiment published in 2018.
    — Jacopo Prisco, CNN Money, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of agony
Noun
  • If Uncle Sam does not change course, America’s unsustainable fiscal mess will result in adverse economic, national security, foreign relations, and domestic tranquility consequences.
    — Steve H. Hanke, Fortune, 7 Nov. 2026
  • Andrew Schaefer, a forty-two-year-old father in Orlando, Florida, who helps people out of tax messes, also likes to wager on elections.
    — Charles Bethea, New Yorker, 7 Nov. 2026
Definition of mess
Noun
  • The flames of perdition, fueled by guilt, estrangement, and repression, lap at society’s sham institutions and flimsy fronts of civility.
    — Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 22 Sep. 2026
  • On one page, tiny, antlike sinners tumbled down a cliff toward perdition.
    — Laura Preston, New Yorker, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of perdition
Noun
  • Would Villeneuve put us all out of our misery and spill the beans?
    — Rebecca Ford, Vanity Fair, 8 Nov. 2026
  • Heavy rains lashed the Gaza Strip, flooding tents and intensifying the misery of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 7 Nov. 2026
Definition of misery

Phrases Containing hell

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heliports
hell
hellacious
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Cite this Entry

“Hell.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hell. Accessed 10 Nov. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on hell

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about hell

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