Synonyms

till hell freezes over

Idioms

Forever, as in They said they'd go on searching till hell freezes over, but I'm sure they'll give up soon. This hyperbolic expression dates from the early 1900s. So does its antonym, not till hell freezes over, meaning “never,” as in I'm not giving in, not until hell freezes over.

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.

See Examples For:

till hell freezes over

Shultz, says one Administration official, will "stay on that job till hell freezes over" rather than let that happen.

From Time Magazine Archive

That there Dorales will be on your trail till hell freezes over, ma’am!

From The Mesa Trail by Bedford-Jones, H.

The one thing you can bet on is that no matter what happens to the German people, win or lose, they'll stick by the Kaiser till hell freezes over.

From Main Street by Lewis, Sinclair

Well, if they want to wait for me to be nasty to Tonet, they can wait till hell freezes over.

From Mayflower (Flor de mayo) A Tale of the Valencian Seashore by Livingston, Arthur

Jed Morrill remarked of Deacon Baxter once: "When Old Foxy wants anything he'll wait till hell freezes over afore he'll give up."

From Story of Waitstill Baxter by Wiggin, Kate Douglas Smith

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023