as in horrible
of, resembling, or befitting hell
We've been having hellish weather lately. The battlefield was a hellish scene of death and destruction.
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Recent Examples of hellish
The younger, David Fagen of Tampa, was a nineteen-year-old phosphate miner who worked hellish ten-hour shifts for one dollar a day.
—
Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2025
There’s also an alien Sequid army slowly forming, Cecil Stedman (Walton Goggins) is secretly keeping Conquest incarcerated, the battle-hungry Battle Beast is alive and the demonic detective Damien Darkblood is summoning a hellish monster to fight Invincible.
—Jordan Moreau, Variety, 10 Oct. 2025
Paul Greengrass’s intense wildfire thriller presents the shocking, most true tale of a school-bus driver (Matthew McConaughey) who winds up having to drive a group of elementary-schoolers through the hellish flames of the 2018 Camp Fire, the deadliest in California history.
—Savannah Salazar, Vulture, 3 Oct. 2025
While Borderland depicts a different reality, Hellbound turns the real world into a hellish realm.
—Keith Langston, PEOPLE, 27 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hellish
Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2025
There’s also an alien Sequid army slowly forming, Cecil Stedman (Walton Goggins) is secretly keeping Conquest incarcerated, the battle-hungry Battle Beast is alive and the demonic detective Damien Darkblood is summoning a hellish monster to fight Invincible.
—Jordan Moreau, Variety, 10 Oct. 2025
Paul Greengrass’s intense wildfire thriller presents the shocking, most true tale of a school-bus driver (Matthew McConaughey) who winds up having to drive a group of elementary-schoolers through the hellish flames of the 2018 Camp Fire, the deadliest in California history.
—Savannah Salazar, Vulture, 3 Oct. 2025
While Borderland depicts a different reality, Hellbound turns the real world into a hellish realm.
—Keith Langston, PEOPLE, 27 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hellish
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hellish
Adjective
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Are there horrible smells wafting around?—
Clio Chang,
Curbed,
7 Jan. 2026
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Jimmy Kimmel was horrible, and some of these people.—
Greg Evans,
Deadline,
6 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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The Hoosiers, of course, are the prime example of a longtime awful football program rising to the top.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
8 Jan. 2026
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Mamdani hasn’t had time yet to flesh out his awful, socialist ideas into real policies that adversely affect New Yorkers.—
Nicole Russell,
USA Today,
8 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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The initial symptoms began in early 2024, when Farrington, 45, started to experience dreadful night sweats.—
Alyce Collins,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 Nov. 2025
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That’s a grim prospect—but then, in Venezuela, yesterday’s grimmest prospects become tomorrow’s headlines with dreadful regularity.—
Quico Toro,
The Atlantic,
4 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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Such jars of moldy fruit were probably fairly hideous to consume.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Jan. 2026
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The Rodents of Unusual Size that attack Westley in a swamp work because they are played by small men in rodent suits, rather than coolly conjured from pixels; their deliberate artifice is the thrill, and Reiner provided the voice for their hideous snorts.—
Alexandra Schwartz,
New Yorker,
17 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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Up north, hundreds of sea lions have been found on beaches in recent months suffering from a bacterial condition that is sickening and killing younger sea lions by attacking their kidneys, said John Warner, CEO of the Marine Mammal Care Center Los Angeles in San Pedro.—
Erika I. Ritchie,
Oc Register,
29 Oct. 2025
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Winter is coming, and no amount of Narcan can solve this sickening public health crisis.—
Joe Dwinell,
Boston Herald,
19 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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The shocking decision sends ripples through the Washington program and the college football transfer portal.—
The Athletic College Football Staff,
New York Times,
7 Jan. 2026
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There are some great twists and turns leading to a shocking but very satisfying ending.—
Will Harris,
Entertainment Weekly,
7 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Hellish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hellish. Accessed 9 Jan. 2026.
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