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hell-raiser

American  
[hel-rey-zer] / ˈhɛlˌreɪ zər /

noun

Informal.
hell-raisers plural
  1. a person who behaves in a rowdy, riotous manner, especially habitually.


Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of hell-raiser

First recorded in 1910–15

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.

See Examples For:

Fedrick could be a hell-raiser, Williams told him.

From The Wall Street Journal Nov. 16, 2025

Lewis had been a hell-raiser since he was a youth, and he was no different as an adult.

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 1, 2025

“For me, music is mind-altering,” said the 32-year-old pop hell-raiser Kesha.

From New York Times Jan. 28, 2020

Shaun White, a goofy hell-raiser when America first fell for him, had been reduced to tears.

From Washington Post Feb. 13, 2018

“Major fight between King and Queen. Gillian is in hell-raiser mode over there.”

From "Tradition" by Brendan Kiely

Shalaiska said she has joined the nation’s nascent “IT army” of volunteer hackers and hell-raisers, who have worked to counter Russian psychological operations by overwhelming their websites and flooding their intelligence officers with spam.

From Washington Post Mar. 1, 2022

The 63-year-old, known as the co-founder, bassist and songwriter for rock’s hell-raisers Mötley Crüe, has been happily sober for 20 years.

From Fox News Jan. 22, 2022

Having drifted away from the album charts in the late 1970s in favour of classical compositions, she reviewed - and found a place in her heart - for Anglo-Irish hell-raisers The Pogues,

From BBC Oct. 20, 2017

Frank seethes with the cumulative rage and mania of all the hell-raisers who preceded him, from the juvenile delinquent in Rebel Without a Cause to the ranting lunatic in Apocalypse Now.

From Salon Mar. 26, 2016

Home was a one-bedroom apartment half a mile from the plane, shared by Luke’s mom and twin brothers, Jack-Jack and Petey, hell-raisers even at five.

From "We'll Fly Away" by Bryan Bliss

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