hellish C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities Also spelled helish US /ˈhɛlɪʃ/ UK /ˈhɛlɪʃ/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 adj extremely unpleasant or torturous; of or like hell The crossing was a hellish ordeal of storms and seasickness. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 adj · extremely unpleasant or... infernaldiabolicalfiendishatrocioushorrendoustorturousdamnableaccursed ↔ Opposites heavenlydivineblissfulparadisiacalidyllic Word family Derived forms hellishlyhellishness Related forms hellhellfirehellbound Etymology AI details From hell (Old English hell, from Proto-Germanic *haljō 'underworld') + the adjectival suffix -ish (Old English -isc). hell Old English *haljō Proto-Germanic *ḱel- Proto-Indo-European View etymology graph -> Topics Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # hellish **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** adj **IPA (US):** /ˈhɛlɪʃ/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈhɛlɪʃ/ ## Meanings 1. extremely unpleasant or torturous; of or like hell ## Examples - The crossing was a hellish ordeal of storms and seasickness. ## Synonyms - infernal - diabolical - fiendish - atrocious - horrendous - torturous - damnable - accursed ## Antonyms - heavenly - divine - blissful - paradisiacal - idyllic ## Derived Forms - hellishly - hellishness ## Related Forms - hell - hellfire - hellbound ## Roots and Affixes - Root: hell - Root: *haljō - Root: *ḱel- ## Etymology From hell (Old English hell, from Proto-Germanic *haljō 'underworld') + the adjectival suffix -ish (Old English -isc). ## AI Etymology Hellish comes from hell (Old English hell, from Proto-Germanic *haljō 'underworld') + the adjectival suffix -ish (Old English -isc). The etymological trail includes Old English hell, Proto-Germanic *haljō, and Proto-Indo-European *ḱel-. As an adjective, hellish describes what is extremely unpleasant or torturous; of or like hell. The same family is visible in derived forms such as hellishly and hellishness and related forms such as hell, hellfire, and hellbound. The analysis is partly morphological, with the modern form built from the elements named in the history. ## Topics - Describing Qualities - Word Formation & Derivatives markdown