Hell-bent

//ˈhɛlˌbɛnt// adj, adv, slang

adj, adv, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Recklessly determined to do or achieve (something). informal

    "He was hell-bent on coming first, no matter what."

Adjective
  1. 1
    recklessly determined wordnet
Adverb
  1. 1
    In a recklessly determined manner; determinedly, wholeheartedly. informal

Synonyms

All synonyms
apacebentdead setdouble quickexpeditiouslyfast

Example

More examples

"He's hell-bent on finding out who killed his daughter."

Etymology

From hell (“in a manner that uses all of the strength, speed, or effort that a person can summon”) + bent (“determined, insistent”), that is, in the sense “determined like hell”.

Related phrases

hell-bent for leather

More for "hell-bent"

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.