hellish

[hel-ish]

adjective

1. of, like, or suitable to hell; infernal; vile; horrible.

   It was a hellish war.

2. miserable; abominable; execrable.

   We had a hellish time getting through traffic.

3. devilishly bad.

   The child's behavior was hellish most of the day.

hellish

/ ˈhɛlɪʃ /

adjective

1. of or resembling hell

2. wicked; cruel

3. informal,  very difficult or unpleasant

adverb

1. informal,  (intensifier)

   a hellish good idea

Other Word Forms

• hellishly adverb
• hellishness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of hellish¹

First recorded in 1520–30; hell + -ish ¹

Example Sentences

One said life became "hellish" when their practice was taken over.

From BBC

Hungover from an almighty boozing session in Hong Kong, the Lions took a hellish flight to Brisbane for a warm-up game against Queensland.

From BBC

“I stand with them. Reasonable people can disagree about Federal immigration policy, but raids as a policy designed to terrorize our neighbors and deport them to often hellish conditions is an attack on American values.”

From Los Angeles Times

On July 19, a TikTok user posted a video of a hellish line leading to customs, captioned “everyone back from their hot euro summer.”

From Los Angeles Times

“It was scary,” said Fine, and the hellish ordeal took another jarring turn when fire advanced on the facility where they’d just been transported, forcing a second evacuation.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• horrible 
• infernal 
• terrible