hellfire
Americannoun
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the fire of hell.
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punishment in hell.
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Military. Hellfire, a laser-guided U.S. Army antiarmor missile designed for launch from a helicopter.
noun
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the torment and punishment of hell, envisaged as eternal fire
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(modifier) characterizing sermons or preachers that emphasize this aspect of Christian belief
hellfire evangelism
Etymology
Origin of hellfire
First recorded before 1000; Middle English, Old English helle fȳr; see hell, fire
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Perhaps that heat he feels is not the warmth of success, but the hellfire of the demon’s fury.
From Salon • Sep. 12, 2025
The online opinions didn’t stop at hellfire, however.
From Los Angeles Times • May 15, 2024
Lisa Bryn Rundle, host of the CBC podcast "Uncover: Satanic Panic," calls that book "Michelle Remembers," a now discredited memoir: "the spark that set off the hellfire."
From Salon • May 29, 2022
The ancients thought Earth’s center was hollow: the home of Hades or hellfire, or a realm of tunnels that heated ocean waters.
From Science Magazine • Mar. 30, 2022
There was also a church where the Reverend Cartwright told us about God and the Devil, about heaven and hellfire.
From "Black Star, Bright Dawn" by Scott O'Dell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
