1
as in nightmares
a situation or state that causes great suffering and unhappiness
picking cotton under the hot summer sun was hell
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in messes
a state in which everything is out of order
all hell broke loose when the jury's verdict was announced
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of hells
Smith stays largely mum on the news of the day, be that Kirk’s killing, or ICE raids, or whatever hells await in the coming weeks.
—
Sam Kestenbaum, Vulture, 2 Jan. 2026
The protagonist's youth doesn't defang the story, as Silent Hill f wastes no time thrusting Hinako and her friends into their personal hells.
—Zackery Cuevas, PC Magazine, 23 Sep. 2025
All’s well that metal-as-hells well.
—Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 27 Aug. 2025
Sam Kestenbaum, Vulture, 2 Jan. 2026
The protagonist's youth doesn't defang the story, as Silent Hill f wastes no time thrusting Hinako and her friends into their personal hells.
—Zackery Cuevas, PC Magazine, 23 Sep. 2025
All’s well that metal-as-hells well.
—Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 27 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hells
Noun
-
But nothing could have prepared viewers for the movie's ending, as an unfinished screenplay became the stuff of nightmares — literally and figuratively.—
Richard Edwards,
Space.com,
8 Feb. 2026
-
Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is often portrayed in popular media as subjects experiencing hypervigilance, flashbacks, and nightmares.—
Eva Cornman,
Hartford Courant,
5 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Make sure to clean up spills and messes as soon as the oven cools down to prevent buildup.—
Karen Brewer Grossman,
Southern Living,
6 Feb. 2026
-
Matching the right type of vacuum to your flooring surface and the common messes in your home can be tricky business.—
Nafeesah Allen,
Better Homes & Gardens,
1 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
And yet, in today’s topical songs by legacy rock artists, such elements don’t heighten the immediacy of the day’s horrors but, rather, run them through a sepia-toned filter.—
Mitch Therieau,
New Yorker,
7 Feb. 2026
-
In Silo, references to a toxic world imply that half a million people were sent underground to protect them from the horrors of a nuclear holocaust.—
Richard Edwards,
Space.com,
7 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Before the Lost Weekend, John and Yoko had their New York Year — turning their personal confusions into beautifully vivid moments of rage and pain.—
Rob Sheffield,
Rolling Stone,
14 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Hadi’s exceptional attention gives cinematic identity to collective artisanal energy, to the life force of care and devotion that stands outside the agonies of politics, to the spirit that endures a regime and outlives it.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
10 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The result also spotlights conference championships’ awkward fit in the current system, particularly given the fact that conference expansion has led to jumbles atop each league’s standings.—
Jacob Feldman,
Sportico.com,
7 Dec. 2025
-
Ray’s most chaotic photograms—jumbles that push out of the frame or look like time bombs ready to explode—find echoes in his films, projected on the back walls, a show in themselves.—
Vince Aletti,
New Yorker,
3 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
This week’s massive winter storm dumped more than a foot of snow on at least 19 states, including those like Texas and Tennessee that are less prepared to deal with the miseries of winter weather.—
Amy Feldman,
Forbes.com,
28 Jan. 2026
-
The victims of prejudice and inequality are always the best guardians of the ramparts that sustain those miseries.—
Cressida Leyshon,
New Yorker,
23 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
Former Jews deemed insufficiently converted faced the Spanish Inquisition’s tortures.—
David Bloom,
Forbes.com,
17 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hells.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hells. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
