Hellhound

//ˈhɛlhaʊnd// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A demonic dog of hell, typically of unnatural size, strength or speed, with black fur, glowing eyes, and ghostly or phantom characteristics.

    "From forth the kennell of thy wombe hath crept / A Hell-hound that doth hunt vs all to death:"

  2. 2
    (Greek mythology) the three-headed dog guarding the entrance to Hades; son of Typhon wordnet
  3. 3
    An evil or otherwise unpleasant person. figuratively
  4. 4
    a very evil man wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
hound of hellbeastbeldambomberbrutecerberus

Example

More examples

"Mary's dog lay peacefully outside her bedroom door. However, whenever Tom came creeping up to see Mary, who was sleeping inside, the dog became a terrifying hellhound that wouldn't let a soul pass."

Etymology

From Middle English helle hound; equivalent to hell + hound.

More for "hellhound"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

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