1
as in inferno
the place of punishment for the wicked after death
condemned to hell for their sins
Synonyms & Similar Words
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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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of hell
The trimming of the sails comes amid a particularly rocky run for Bad Robot, with several ambitious projects featuring high-wattage talent getting a hard pass or stuck in development hell.
—
Joe Otterson, Variety, 8 Apr. 2026
The businessman and father was living in kind of a hell associated with a Third World dungeon -- complete with racial slurs.
—Troy Roberts, CBS News, 8 Apr. 2026
Watch the Japanese punk band raise hell in the minute-long track’s video, directed by Haruko Tajima, below.
—Jazz Monroe, Pitchfork, 8 Apr. 2026
The work is finished and hell still knows.
—Ilana Kaplan, PEOPLE, 8 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for hell
Joe Otterson, Variety, 8 Apr. 2026
The businessman and father was living in kind of a hell associated with a Third World dungeon -- complete with racial slurs.
—Troy Roberts, CBS News, 8 Apr. 2026
Watch the Japanese punk band raise hell in the minute-long track’s video, directed by Haruko Tajima, below.
—Jazz Monroe, Pitchfork, 8 Apr. 2026
The work is finished and hell still knows.
—Ilana Kaplan, PEOPLE, 8 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for hell
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hell
Noun
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The Sheriff’s Office had recused itself from the investigation days after the inferno.—
Sacbee.com,
Sacbee.com,
11 Apr. 2026
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At one point, eight tower ladders surrounded the building, shooting water onto the inferno from all directions, limiting the flames from spreading to other buildings.—
Nicholas Williams,
New York Daily News,
11 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Their evident fondness for one another, glowing warmly alongside all their sniping and whispering and eye-rolling, allows all the nightmares in Big Mistakes to feel like a lark rather than an incipient calamity.—
Kathryn VanArendonk,
Vulture,
10 Apr. 2026
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The couple's life has gone from something out of a postcard to the stuff of nightmares after Lynette Hooker went missing during a nighttime Bahamas boat trip.—
Nicole Fallert,
USA Today,
9 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The aim is for Abdul to cause havoc in the United States, the West Bank and Iran.—
Oline H. Cogdill,
Sun Sentinel,
7 Apr. 2026
-
In the twentieth century, the same storms that made headlines in New York wreaked quieter havoc across the river.—
Eric Klinenberg,
New Yorker,
6 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The horrid image in the news of a column of smoke rising above the city of Tehran — an abyss of darkness against the gray sky — arrests my attention.—
Babak Rahimi,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
14 Apr. 2026
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One thing is consistent, though, which is her taste for looking down the abyss.—
Rafaela Bassili,
Vulture,
13 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The agony of America’s post-1945 wars has been their gradual inducement of a sense of futility.—
Fintan O’Toole,
The New York Review of Books,
9 Apr. 2026
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As young fans gripped their face in agony, the older faces held their palms up in knowing shrugs.—
Beren Cross,
New York Times,
6 Apr. 2026
Noun
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That mess led to sacrifice flies by Christian Walker and Cam Smith, giving Houston a 2-0 lead.—
Patrick Saunders,
Denver Post,
16 Apr. 2026
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There is no way Swalwell could have represented his constituents, much less run for higher office, while mired in this mess.—
Michelle Cottle,
Mercury News,
16 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Misprisions of this kind were more likely to occur, the experts argued, in religious settings marked by the rigorous policing of strict ethical injunctions or an emphasis on particular states of mind as markers of grace or perdition.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Mar. 2026
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Sloth, after all, is a deadly sin, and it was often seen as the first step on the slippery slope to perdition.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
31 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The show is a propulsive hurricane of misery and cringe, from the violent incident that sets off this series of unfortunate events to the twists and horrors that unfold.—
Kelly Lawler,
USA Today,
16 Apr. 2026
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But putting all that effort toward something that’s not real weighs on him, and Isaac’s taut encapsulation of misery compliments a series that feeds on tension.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
16 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Hell.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hell. Accessed 17 Apr. 2026.
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