hellacious

or hel·la·ceous

[he-ley-shuh s]

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adjective Slang.

remarkable; astonishing: They're raising a hellacious amount of money in taxes.

formidably difficult: We had a hellacious time getting here in the blizzard.

Origin of hellacious

hell + -acious (extracted from audacious, sagacious, vivacious, etc.), perhaps with intensive or augmentative force; cf. bodacious, splendacious

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for hellacious

perfect, fantastic, good, tough, exceptional, tremendous, positive, awesome, admirable, terrific, marvelous, bad, wonderful, fine, best, absolute, heavy, expert, adept, crack

British Dictionary definitions for hellacious

hellacious

adjective US slang

remarkable; horrifying

wonderful; excellent

Word Origin for hellacious

C20: from hell + -acious as in audacious

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

Word Origin and History for hellacious

adj.

1930s, college slang, from hell + fanciful ending (cf. bodacious).