helly C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities US /ˈhɛli/ UK /ˈhɛli/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 adj hellish or infernal in character (rare and dialectal) A helly red glow flickered above the smelting works. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 adj · hellish or infernal in... hellishinfernalfiendishdiabolical ↔ Opposites heavenlydivine Word family Related forms hellhellish Etymology AI details From hell (Old English hell, from Proto-Germanic *haljō) + the adjectival suffix -y; a rare and dialectal formation parallel to hellish. hell Old English *haljō Proto-Germanic View etymology graph -> Topics Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives Register & Style External links Google Images Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary # helly **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** adj **IPA (US):** /ˈhɛli/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈhɛli/ ## Meanings 1. hellish or infernal in character (rare and dialectal) ## Examples - A helly red glow flickered above the smelting works. ## Synonyms - hellish - infernal - fiendish - diabolical ## Antonyms - heavenly - divine ## Related Forms - hell - hellish ## Roots and Affixes - Root: hell - Root: *haljō ## Etymology From hell (Old English hell, from Proto-Germanic *haljō) + the adjectival suffix -y; a rare and dialectal formation parallel to hellish. ## AI Etymology helly comes from hell (Old English hell, from Proto-Germanic *haljō) + the adjectival suffix -y; a rare and dialectal formation parallel to hellish. Morphologically, the ending is part of the etymology: the suffix is attached to the older base named in the history, producing a later English derivative. In present English, the adjective sense is "hellish or infernal in character (rare and dialectal)", so the historical development ends in a clearly identifiable modern dictionary use. The same base also appears in related forms such as hell and hellish. Its semantic neighborhood includes hellish, infernal, fiendish, and diabolical, which helps locate the modern sense without adding a separate etymological claim. The named historical forms include Old English hell and Proto-Germanic *haljō. ## Topics - Describing Qualities - Word Formation & Derivatives - Register & Style markdown