hells

noun

plural of hell
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

Relevance

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

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 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hells
  1. nightmares
  2. messes
  3. horrors
  4. confusions
  5. agonies
  6. jumbles
  7. miseries
  8. havoc
Noun
  • Now imagine all their parents having nightmares that this was their university experience.
    — Brian Truitt, USA Today, 1 July 2026
  • Set amid the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, the tragic tale of Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) is famous for allowing real nightmares to masquerade as bloody fairytales.
    — Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 30 June 2026
Definition of nightmares
Noun
  • Wiping off surfaces, opening curtains, making beds, and tidying messes were all in a day’s work but, that’s where the fun began.
    — Patricia Shannon, Southern Living, 6 July 2026
  • Among my favorite finds, there’s a collagen-boosting serum from Medicube, eyelet maxi dress that can be worn to brunch and the office, and a cordless Shark vacuum that makes quick work of pet messes.
    — Izzy Baskette, PEOPLE, 5 July 2026
Definition of messes
Noun
  • Many of its founding members had seen the horrors of World War I up close (Breton and several others had served in the French army) and blamed their fathers’ generation for the carnage.
    — Susan Rubin Suleiman, The New York Review of Books, 4 July 2026
  • Netflix is releasing a new game show, one that combines the popularity of Squid Game, the timeless charms of the live-action Wonka experience, and the unwanted ubiquity of technofascist horrors beyond our comprehension.
    — Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 30 June 2026
Definition of horrors
Noun
  • 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
Definition of confusions
Noun
  • The reticence of Cartland’s heroes belies agonies of loneliness.
    — Simon Perry, PEOPLE, 18 June 2026
  • Although the novel’s center does not quite hold, O’Farrell’s emotional intelligence — the heart and heat of her characters — braces this sometimes unwieldy chronicle of a nation that has been subject to cumbrous historic agonies.
    — Rachel Vorona Cote, Vulture, 2 June 2026
Definition of agonies
Noun
  • 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
  • Macaroons are chewy jumbles of coconut bound together with egg whites and sweetened condensed milk.
    — Lynda Balslev, Mercury News, 10 Feb. 2026
Definition of jumbles
Noun
  • The sad thing is that the miseries return, but there is no other Garrincha available.
    — Jack Lang, New York Times, 28 May 2026
  • The parallels between Ines’ dilemma and that of a nation being asked to lick its wounds in silence — in the name of moving on from past miseries — are present but elusive.
    — Jessica Kiang, Variety, 14 May 2026
Definition of miseries
Noun
  • His counterpressing has been a major aid to the way the team plays, and Balogun’s ability to run in behind the lines and cause havoc in the box opens space and makes things easier for the attacking players around him.
    — Paul Tenorio, New York Times, 5 July 2026
  • You’d be forgiven for thinking far fewer of the destructive predators are causing havoc, however.
    — Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 2 July 2026
Definition of havoc

Browse Nearby Words

hell-raising
hells
helm
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Hells.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hells. Accessed 13 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 10
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
banana-mirrored
Contradictory Words Quiz Pick out which word means one thing…and the opp...
See All