hellish
/'heliʃ/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Adjective:
- Extremely evil, cruel, or wicked; characteristic of hell or its inhabitants: Describing something profoundly malevolent, morally abhorrent, or resembling the traditional concept of hell.
- Extremely unpleasant, awful, or disagreeable: Used informally to describe something that is very bad, difficult, or annoying.
Examples of Usage
- Describing extreme evil or cruelty:
- The dictator was known for his hellish treatment of political prisoners.
- They uncovered evidence of hellish rituals at the ancient site.
- Describing extreme unpleasantness:
- We drove through hellish traffic for two hours.
- She had a hellish week at work with back-to-back deadlines.
Advanced Usage
- "a hellish noise": an extremely loud, unpleasant, or jarring sound.
- The construction next door is making a hellish noise.
- "hellish conditions": circumstances that are extremely difficult, dangerous, or uncomfortable.
- The refugees survived in hellish conditions with little food or water.
Variants and Related Words
- Hellishly (adverb): in an extremely evil or unpleasant manner; to an extreme degree.
- The summer has been hellishly hot this year.
- Hellishness (noun): the quality or state of being hellish.
- The hellishness of the war was documented by journalists.
Synonyms
- Diabolical: belonging to or so evil as to recall the Devil.
- Fiendish: extremely cruel or unpleasant.
- Infernal: relating to or characteristic of hell; (informal) damned, annoying.
- Demonic: relating to or characteristic of demons or evil spirits.
- Awful: very bad or unpleasant.
Antonyms
- Heavenly: of or resembling heaven; supremely blissful.
- Angelic: relating to or resembling angels, especially in being innocent, virtuous, or beautiful.
- Pleasant: giving a sense of happy satisfaction or enjoyment.
Related Idioms and Phrases
- A living hell: a situation or experience that is extremely unpleasant or painful.
- His illness made the last few months a living hell.
- Go through hell (and high water): to endure a very difficult or painful experience.
- She went through hell to get that degree while working full-time.(Note: These idioms use the base word "hell," not the adjective "hellish.")
Adjective
- extremely evil or cruel; expressive of cruelty or befitting hell
- something demonic in him--something that could be cruel
- fires lit up a diabolic scene
- diabolical sorcerers under the influence of devils
- a fiendish despot
- hellish torture
- infernal instruments of war
- satanic cruelty
- unholy grimaces
- very unpleasant
- hellish weather
- stop that god-awful racket