brimstone

[ brim-stohn ]

/ ˈbrɪmˌstoʊn /

Save This Word!

noun

a virago; shrew.

QUIZ

ALL IN FAVO(U)R OF THIS BRITISH VS. AMERICAN ENGLISH QUIZ

There's an ocean of difference between the way people speak English in the US vs. the UK. Are your language skills up to the task of telling the difference? Let's find out!

Question 1 of 7

True or false? British English and American English are only different when it comes to slang words.

true

false

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of brimstone

before 1150; Middle English brinston, etc., late Old English brynstān.See burn¹, stone

OTHER WORDS FROM brimstone

brimstony, adjective

Words nearby brimstone

Brillo, Brill's disease, brim, brimful, brimmer, brimstone, brinded, Brindisi, brindle, brindled, Brindley

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use brimstone in a sentence

I was used to the fire and brimstone rhetoric at this point, but the idea that you could be “out of your mind” was new to me.
What we don’t know about OCD|Eleanor Cummins|December 10, 2021|Vox
Some lawmakers were more hellfire-and-brimstone than others.
Ted’s Excellent Adventure: How Cruz Rocked the Value Voters Summit|Michelle Cottle|October 11, 2013|DAILY BEAST
From Cyrus on, however, it was all, to borrow another Biblical allusion, fire and brimstone.
Netanyahu Swims Against Iranian Diplomatic Current|Ali Gharib|October 2, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss brought the fire and brimstone this season, and for this, deserve the shiny hardware.
Emmys 2013: What Show Should Win It All? Our Critics Debate|Kevin Fallon, Marlow Stern|September 21, 2013|DAILY BEAST

Mrs. Lincoln, who is a bit of a Bible-thumper, is strongly depicted in the film instead as a fire-and-brimstone conservative.
‘Beautiful Creatures’: 14 Notable Differences From the Book to the Screen|Jean Trinh|February 15, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Having never played a villain before, DiCaprio relishes in the opportunity, spewing fire and brimstone.
Oscar Nominations Shockers: Ben Affleck, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kathryn Bigelow & More|Marlow Stern|January 10, 2013|DAILY BEAST
They used to declare that every unbaptised baby would go to Hell and burn for ever in fire and brimstone.
God and my Neighbour|Robert Blatchford
Ain't got used to brimstone yet, but I'd trade mosquitoes for sulphur smoke and give some boot.
Cabin Fever|B. M. Bower
Let equal portions of salt and slaked lime be in one; salt and wood ashes in another; and salt and brimstone in a third.
Domestic Animals|Richard L. Allen
Heave ahead, my lads,” cried the slave captain; “and below there, get those brimstone-pans going at once.
Mass' George|George Manville Fenn
Those devils there emptying cargoes of lost souls into the brimstone pits,—surely they could not be men!
Mountain|Clement Wood

British Dictionary definitions for brimstone

brimstone

/ (ˈbrɪmˌstəʊn) /

noun

an obsolete name for sulphur

a common yellow butterfly, Gonepteryx rhamni, of N temperate regions of the Old World: family Pieridae

archaic a scolding nagging woman; virago

Word Origin for brimstone

Old English brynstān; related to Old Norse brennistein; see burn 1, stone

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012