hellhole

[hel-hohl]

noun

a place totally lacking in comfort, cleanliness, order, etc.

a place or establishment noted for its illegal or immoral practices.

Origin of hellhole

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at hell, hole

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

Examples from the Web for hellhole

Contemporary Examples of hellhole

They'd tell you immediately that we need security around our ambassador in a hellhole like Benghazi.
Don't Blame Gay Men for Benghazi
David Frum
October 19, 2012
“This place was a hellhole,” says Akram Mohamed Ramadan, a rebel fighter who came to visit the prison on Friday.
Return to Tripoli’s Notorious Jail
Babak Dehghanpisheh
August 28, 2011
From these headquarters, Maria Leon and her family had turned the neighborhood into a hellhole.
The Gangster Matriarch of L.A.
Christine Pelisek
September 13, 2010
At least I could comfort myself with the thought that the mom and kid got out of that hellhole alive.
My Disney Cruise from Hell
Laura Bennett
April 9, 2010

Historical Examples of hellhole

But near the Mammoth Hot Springs is a hellhole that did attract me.
Wild Animals at Home
Ernest Thompson Seton
The flag which floats over every hellhole of mine and mill and prison?
The Red Conspiracy
Joseph J. Mereto

British Dictionary definitions for hellhole

hellhole

noun

an unpleasant or evil place

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 hellhole

"the pit of Hell," late 14c., from hell + hole (n.). Meaning "unpleasant place" is from 1866.