as in horrific
very bad or evil; deserving of hate or contempt
These murders were especially heinous. the heinous brutality of the attack
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Recent Examples of heinous
The shooting outside the Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. is a heinous act of antisemitic murder and terrorism.
—
Anna Commander, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 May 2025
Their Christian work turns from mentoring teenage boys to working to lock up some of the same kids in heinous adult prisons.
—Katherine Corcoran, New York Times, 20 May 2025
Experts are quick to point out that trying to attach logic to heinous acts of violence is often an unsatisfying endeavor.
—Cnn.com Wire Service, Mercury News, 20 May 2025
Can the plaintiffs establish to the satisfaction of a jury that these platforms played an active or at least negligent role in this radicalization that culminated in this heinous event?
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 19 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for heinous
Anna Commander, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 May 2025
Their Christian work turns from mentoring teenage boys to working to lock up some of the same kids in heinous adult prisons.
—Katherine Corcoran, New York Times, 20 May 2025
Experts are quick to point out that trying to attach logic to heinous acts of violence is often an unsatisfying endeavor.
—Cnn.com Wire Service, Mercury News, 20 May 2025
Can the plaintiffs establish to the satisfaction of a jury that these platforms played an active or at least negligent role in this radicalization that culminated in this heinous event?
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 19 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for heinous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for heinous
Adjective
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That this horrific upheaval comes care of Lucy’s work is the real kicker.—
Kate Erbland,
IndieWire,
9 June 2025
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This is what Qasem Hassan had feared from the start—that the horrific violence inflicted on Israelis on October 7th would be used to justify a war without limits, dehumanizing all Palestinians.—
Eyal Press,
New Yorker,
9 June 2025
Adjective
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Six decades later, Hamas would engage in a gruesome competition with Fatah to outdo one another with terrorist attacks during the 1990s and early 2000s.—
Sean Durns,
The Washington Examiner,
6 June 2025
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But Trump and Epstein’s association has been out in the open for nearly a quarter century; nineties-era footage of the gruesome twosome together at Mar-a-Lago, leering at a group of young cheerleaders, has been circulating since at least 2019.—
Jessica Winter,
New Yorker,
6 June 2025
Adjective
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The Queens Botanical Garden’s annual Pride event will feature DJ music, after-hours access to the garden and sickening drag performances by Nani Tsunami and Janae SaisQuoi.—
Muri Assunção,
New York Daily News,
14 June 2025
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But the defense is hoping to cast her recollections merely as sickening details in a deranged love story between two consenting and jealous adults.—
Anna Kaufman,
USA Today,
17 May 2025
Adjective
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But then what looked like a tap-in par on the long par-three eighth turned into a shocking miss.—
Doug Ferguson,
Los Angeles Times,
15 June 2025
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The team grapples with a leadership shakeup and a shocking ultimatum.—
Billie Melissa,
MSNBC Newsweek,
14 June 2025
Adjective
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All the juicy — and disgusting — details of each inspection can be found in a PDF embedded under each restaurant’s entry.—
Camila Pedrosa,
Sacbee.com,
15 June 2025
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War is disgusting, and that extraordinary chapter, which concluded what was undoubtedly the most terrible war in history, provides no exception ...—
Charles C. W. Cooke,
National Review,
12 June 2025
Adjective
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And these are the same Oilers who, after a terrible 6-1 loss in Game 3 to the Panthers, overcame a three-goal deficit in Game 4 to even the series.—
Daniel Nugent-Bowman,
New York Times,
15 June 2025
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For example, while the IRA rollback effort will inevitably mean a significant reduction in U.S. federal support for electric vehicles, nevertheless the adoption of EVs continued in Q1 even despite a terrible quarter for the U.S.’s leading brand (Tesla).—
Rob Day,
Forbes.com,
14 June 2025
Adjective
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Even with the horrible start the Red Sox still nearly came all the way back, twice drawing to within one run, but the club couldn’t get over the hump.—
Mac Cerullo,
Boston Herald,
3 June 2025
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We were made aware of this horrible activity by Priscilla Olivarez from ILRC, at our annual conference Convening 2025, held in San Antonio.—
Billal Rahman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
2 June 2025
Adjective
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My goodness, these men wanted to win the U.S. Open with every bit of their being, to finally win a major championship and make this ugly, rainy day worth the battles behind them.—
Brody Miller,
New York Times,
16 June 2025
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If his bat is slipping as well, that will be an ugly contract for the Giants.—
Houston Mitchell,
Los Angeles Times,
13 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Heinous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/heinous. Accessed 20 Jun. 2025.
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