hellscape
Americannoun
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a bleak landscape or one that resembles hell.
a post-apocalyptic hellscape.
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a place or time that is hopeless, unbearable, or irredeemable: College application season is a hellscape.
It’s impossible to avoid the hellscape of social media.
College application season is a hellscape.
Enjoy your existence on this hellscape in whatever way you can.
Etymology
Origin of hellscape
First recorded in 1890–95; hell ( def. ) + -scape ( def. )
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.
His task in 2023 was clear: to drag this isolating hellscape kicking and screaming onto the big screen, and in a way that resembles his YouTube series.
From BBC • May 29, 2026
You don’t want to end up like this lost soul, lugging his giant gambles through the hellscape of his own mind:
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 27, 2026
Naturally there is plenty of ire in Ellie as she hurtles toward adulthood in a hopeless hellscape with an assassin/guardian who’s repeatedly lied to her.
From Los Angeles Times • May 18, 2025
We're all tired after this hellscape of a year, and making choices more complicated than eating pie or cake just seems like a lot of extra effort.
From Salon • Dec. 20, 2024
I know this is weird, but I make my bed every single day, even though the rest of my room is a hellscape of paper and laundry and books and clutter.
From "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda" by Becky Albertalli
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.
