hellish
Americanadjective
-
of, like, or suitable to hell; infernal; vile; horrible.
It was a hellish war.
-
miserable; abominable; execrable.
We had a hellish time getting through traffic.
-
devilishly bad.
The child's behavior was hellish most of the day.
adjective
-
of or resembling hell
-
wicked; cruel
-
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.
"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
There were fantastic moments, and there were hellish moments.
From Salon ● Jun. 1, 2026
As a band played “The Blue Danube,” she blocked out her hellish surroundings and imagined herself on stage in Budapest, dancing to Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo and Juliet.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026
I’ve been doing daily art journalism for 45 years — 36 of them at The Times, with 2,195 bylines — so I’m about to find out whether this quitting will also be hellish.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 1, 2025
Mark shivers, the chill across his skin a fresh relief from the hellish heat that has become his life.
From "The Kill Order (Maze Runner, Book Four; Origin)" by James Dashner
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.
