Hades

American  

[hey-deez] / ˈheɪ diz /

noun

1. Classical Mythology.

   1. the underworld inhabited by departed souls.

   2. the god ruling the underworld; Pluto.

2. (in the Revised Version of the New Testament) the abode or state of the dead.

3. (often lowercase) hell.

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Hades British  

/ ˈheɪdɪən, ˈheɪdiːz, heɪˈdiːən /

noun

1. Greek myth

   1. the underworld abode of the souls of the dead

   2. Pluto, the god of the underworld, brother of Zeus and husband of Persephone

2. New Testament the abode or state of the dead

3. informal (often not capital) hell

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Hades Cultural  

1. The Greek and Roman god of the underworld and the ruler of the dead. Also called Dis. The underworld itself was also known to the Greeks as Hades.

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Discover More

The Greek and Roman underworld later became associated with the hell of Christianity, as in the expression “hot as Hades.”

Other Word Forms

• Hadean adjective

Etymology

Origin of Hades

First recorded in 1590–1600

Example Sentences

Other contenders for the top game prize this year are Death Stranding 2, Nintendo platformer Donkey Kong Bananza, indie games Hollow Knight: Silksong and Hades 2, and medieval adventure Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2.

From BBC • Nov. 17, 2025

Or what in Hades will happen to the surviving characters?

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 19, 2025

It depicts Dionysus journeying to Hades to retrieve a poet who can help Athens in crisis, culminating in a contest between Aeschylus and Euripides.

From Salon • Apr. 13, 2025

When Supergiant Games was wrapping up Hades, a mythologically rich hack-and-slash dungeon crawler it had spent more than three years developing, the studio concluded it was not quite done.

From New York Times • May 13, 2024

In the background Hades fought from his black chariot, summoning wave after wave of zombies out of the ground, but the forces of the Titan’s army seemed just as endless.

From "The Last Olympian" by Rick Riordan

Related Words

• inferno
• misery
• nightmare
• purgatory