1
as in nightmares
a situation or state that causes great suffering and unhappiness
picking cotton under the hot summer sun was hell
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in messes
a state in which everything is out of order
all hell broke loose when the jury's verdict was announced
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of hells
Smith stays largely mum on the news of the day, be that Kirk’s killing, or ICE raids, or whatever hells await in the coming weeks.
—
Sam Kestenbaum, Vulture, 2 Jan. 2026
The protagonist's youth doesn't defang the story, as Silent Hill f wastes no time thrusting Hinako and her friends into their personal hells.
—Zackery Cuevas, PC Magazine, 23 Sep. 2025
All’s well that metal-as-hells well.
—Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 27 Aug. 2025
Sam Kestenbaum, Vulture, 2 Jan. 2026
The protagonist's youth doesn't defang the story, as Silent Hill f wastes no time thrusting Hinako and her friends into their personal hells.
—Zackery Cuevas, PC Magazine, 23 Sep. 2025
All’s well that metal-as-hells well.
—Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 27 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hells
Noun
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Someone breaking in the middle of the night … tying you up, these … are things that are nightmares.—
Lauren Clark,
CBS News,
29 Mar. 2026
-
For once, the Fort Worth Zoo was not the cause of traffic nightmares on South University Boulevard.—
Harrison Mantas,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
26 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Don’t let clutter and little messes get the best of your weekend.—
Patricia Shannon,
Better Homes & Gardens,
16 Mar. 2026
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For tougher messes, a commercial product like an oven cleaner might be best.—
Tessa Cooper,
The Spruce,
16 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Yet as deeply personal and dark as the subject matter can sometimes be, amid the horrors of today’s headlines, the album’s optimism is a welcome sound.—
Jem Aswad,
Variety,
27 Mar. 2026
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Michael Winterbottom followed in 2023 with Shoshana (a film that premiered a full month before the horrors of October 7), and last year saw Cherien Dabis’s sprawling epic All That’s Left of You make the Oscar shortlist.—
Damon Wise,
Deadline,
27 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Before the Lost Weekend, John and Yoko had their New York Year — turning their personal confusions into beautifully vivid moments of rage and pain.—
Rob Sheffield,
Rolling Stone,
14 Oct. 2025
Noun
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And yet, in the scene on the Hill of Love, Lapid offers no self-questioning, no sense of cinematic exertion or trouble, in the fictional framing of the real agonies of Gaza.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
27 Mar. 2026
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The celebrated poet and memoirist, delves into the agonies of her decision and describes the emerging women’s liberation movement, of which Moore would soon become a participant.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
20 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Arches and natural bridges sweep like buttresses from jumbles of rock, giving this landscape a mystical, cathedral-like quality.—
Madison Chapman,
Outside,
25 Mar. 2026
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Macaroons are chewy jumbles of coconut bound together with egg whites and sweetened condensed milk.—
Lynda Balslev,
Mercury News,
10 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Inarguably one of the best teams in the country annually, the Boilermakers had a string of March miseries.—
Dana O’Neil,
CNN Money,
18 Mar. 2026
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And allergy miseries don’t end after the spring.—
Tom Gavin,
EverydayHealth.com,
11 Mar. 2026
Noun
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In that final part of the cycle—the writing part—were torments, perhaps even tortures, but good things happened.—
Jake Lundberg,
The Atlantic,
19 Feb. 2026
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Former Jews deemed insufficiently converted faced the Spanish Inquisition’s tortures.—
David Bloom,
Forbes.com,
17 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hells.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hells. Accessed 1 Apr. 2026.
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