Hellfire
adj, intj, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 The fire of Hell. uncountable
"The sound of the gang was diminishing into the distance, and the prophet of doom, restored to eloquence, was sending threatful bolts of damnation, hell-fire, and a brimstone gehenna hurtling after them."
- 2 a place of eternal fire envisaged as punishment for the damned wordnet
- 3 Fire produced by the Devil, or a similar supernatural creature connected to Hell. uncountable
- 4 A fire that burns with unusual heat or ferocity. countable
- 5 Ellipsis of AGM-114 Hellfire. abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis
- 1 Of or relating to a violent, apocalyptic and ultimate day of reckoning and judgment; usually characterizing a form of Christian preaching.
"The advance of liberalism, so-called, in Christianity, during the past fifty years, may fairly be called a victory of healthy-mindedness within the church over the morbidness with which the old hell-fire theology was more harmoniously related."
- 1 hell; damn; blast
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"Mennad is going to burn in eternal hellfire."
Etymology
From Middle English helle fire, helever, from Old English hellefȳr, equivalent to hell + fire. Cognate with West Frisian helfjoer (“hellfire”), Dutch hellevuur (“hellfire”), German Höllenfeuer (“hellfire”).
Related phrases
More for "hellfire"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.