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hellacious

or hel·la·ceous

[ he-ley-shuh s ]
/ hɛˈleɪ ʃəs /
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR hellacious ON THESAURUS.COM

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.

RELATED WORDS

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

Nearby words

  1. hell-bent for leather,
  2. hell-fired,
  3. hell-for-leather,
  4. hell-raiser,
  5. hella,
  6. helladic,
  7. hellas,
  8. hellbender,
  9. hellbent,
  10. hellbox

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

British Dictionary definitions for hellacious

hellacious

/ (hɛˈleɪʃəs) /

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

hellacious

adj.

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

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper