hellish
Americanadjective
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of, like, or suitable to hell; infernal; vile; horrible.
It was a hellish war.
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miserable; abominable; execrable.
We had a hellish time getting through traffic.
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devilishly bad.
The child's behavior was hellish most of the day.
adjective
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of or resembling hell
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wicked; cruel
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informal very difficult or unpleasant
adverb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of hellish
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.
An impressive 32% of immigrants from the Democratic Republic of the Congo—war-torn and ravaged—have college degrees, as do 19% from hellish Somalia.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
Around her stood people in T-shirts with the same illustration featured on the church’s bulletin that week: a phoenix representing Boyle Heights rising from the flames of a hellish warehouse.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026
"Ferns responded to and delivered the fuel that fanned the flames, triggering repeated massive wildfires. A truly hellish world."
From Science Daily ● Jul. 22, 2026
"It must have been hellish in the forest at the time."
From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026
I step out of the hellish clothing shop, and a girl hands me a flyer for a concert in the cafe on the town square.
From "What the Night Sings" by Vesper Stamper
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
