hellish
Americanadjective
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of, like, or suitable to hell; infernal; vile; horrible.
It was a hellish war.
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miserable; abominable; execrable.
We had a hellish time getting through traffic.
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devilishly bad.
The child's behavior was hellish most of the day.
adjective
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of or resembling hell
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wicked; cruel
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informal very difficult or unpleasant
adverb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of hellish
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.
When the Americans reached Weimar in April, Weirich was ordered to march through the hellish debris of Buchenwald to clear up the camp on a work detail.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
"We had a hellish night on Friday," said one resident in the Talladje area near the airbase.
From Barron's ● Aug. 30, 2026
Around her stood people in T-shirts with the same illustration featured on the church’s bulletin that week: a phoenix representing Boyle Heights rising from the flames of a hellish warehouse.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026
"It must have been hellish in the forest at the time."
From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026
If I don’t know how my coworkers survive on their wages or what they make of our hellish condition, I do know about their back pains and cramps and arthritic attacks.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
