hellion

[ hel-yuhn ]
See synonyms for hellion on Thesaurus.com
nounInformal.
  1. a disorderly, troublesome, rowdy, or mischievous person.

Origin of hellion

1
1835–45, Americanism;hell + -ion, as in scullion,rapscallion

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use hellion in a sentence

  • I'm a-leavin' these hellions to rot in their tracks while I have a few days of peace en quiet.

    David Lannarck, Midget | George S. Harney
  • He fooled me, yes, for I didna know that hed got word to these three hellions of his that the mine was here.

    The Snow-Burner | Henry Oyen
  • Say, you fellows are just exactly like I thought youd be—regular hellions.

    Local Color | Irvin S. Cobb
  • The ver-ry same—Hal and Buck and a brood of young hellions they have raised.

    The Sheriff's Son | William MacLeod Raine
  • You and those two other hellions—the two that took me and that boy out that night to bury us.

    The Lions of the Lord | Harry Leon Wilson

British Dictionary definitions for hellion

hellion

/ (ˈhɛljən) /


noun
  1. US informal a rough or rowdy person, esp a child; troublemaker: Also called: heller

Origin of hellion

1
C19: probably from dialect hallion rogue, of unknown origin

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