HELL | Meaning, Definition In Cambridge English Dictionary

Meaning of hell in English hellnoun uk /hel/ us /hel/ Add to word list Add to word list B2 [ S or U ] an extremely unpleasant or difficult place, situation, or experience: sheer hell Work is sheer hell at the moment. The last few months have been absolute hell. See also hellhole informal infernal B2 [ S ] (also Hell) in some religions, the place where some people are believed to go after death to be punished for ever for the bad things they have done during their lives: go to hell I'll go to Hell for this.  make someone's life hell informal (also make life hell for someone) to cause a lot of problems for someone and make them very unhappy: I worked for her for two years and she made my life hell. See more

• Living with her has been pure hell recently.
• I'd see her in hell before I'd agree to an arrangement like that.
• It was a living hell for the soldiers out there on the front line.
• " Didn't you enjoy teaching, then?" "No, it was sheer hell - I'd never be a teacher."
• She had to suffer the hell of giving birth to her dead baby.

Relgious concepts: Hell

• chthonic
• damn
• damnation
• damned
• devildom
• eternal damnation
• fire
• fire and brimstone idiom
• Hades
• hellfire
• infernal
• infernally
• underworld

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Religious concepts: life after death

Idioms

all hell breaks loose come hell or high water for the hell of it from hell give someone hell go to hell go to hell and back go to hell in a handcart hell for leather hell on earth be hell on wheels there'll be hell to pay to hell with someone/something when hell freezes over hellexclamation, noun [ U ] uk /hel/ us /hel/ B2 used to express anger or to add emphasis: Oh hell, I've forgotten my key!what the hell What the hell was that noise?hope in hell We don't have a hope in hell (= we have no hope) of meeting such a tight deadline. Expressions of anger

• ay
• bally
• beg
• biscuit
• blast
• blasted
• blaze
• bloody
• dickens
• doggone
• drat
• dratted
• egad
• fie
• flaming
• just my luck! idiom
• la
• marry
• need
• put/stick that in your pipe and smoke it! idiom

See more results »

Idioms

annoy, frighten, scare, etc. the hell out of someone (as) ... as hell be hell-bent on something beat the hell out of someone get the hell out of somewhere the hell someone is/does, etc. a hell of a hell yes/no like hell to hell what the hell (Definition of hell from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

hell | American Dictionary

hellnoun [ U ] us /hel/

hell noun [U] (PLACE)

Add to word list Add to word list (in some religions) the place where some people are believed to go after death to be punished forever for the bad things they have done

hell noun [U] (CONDITION)

an extremely unpleasant or difficult place, situation, or experience: Holidays are hell for me. We went through hell during the flood (= had an extremely bad experience).

Idioms

the hell out of to hell with someone/something hellexclamation   slang us /hel/

hell exclamation (EXPRESSION)

used to express anger, or to give emphasis to an expression: Oh hell, I forgot my keys! Her dad was mad as hell.

Note:

• This may be considered offensive by some people.

(Definition of hell from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press) What is the pronunciation of hell?

Translations of hell

in Chinese (Traditional) 悲慘的境況, 苦難的經歷, 地獄… See more in Chinese (Simplified) 悲惨的境况, 苦难的经历, 地狱… See more in Spanish infierno, infierno [masculine]… See more in Portuguese inferno, inferno [masculine]… See more in Marathi in Japanese in French in Turkish in Catalan in Dutch in Tamil in Hindi in Gujarati in Danish in Swedish in Malay in German in Norwegian in Urdu in Ukrainian in Telugu in Bengali in Czech in Indonesian in Thai in Vietnamese in Polish in Korean in Italian नरक, काही धर्मात असा विश्वास आहे की मृत्यूनंतर आपल्या. पापांची शिक्षा मिळण्याची जागा… See more 地獄, ひどい経験, 生き地獄… See more enfer [masculine], enfer… See more cehennem… See more infern, forma abreujada de “he will”… See more hel, vagevuur… See more மிகவும் விரும்பத்தகாத அல்லது கடினமான இடம், சூழ்நிலை அல்லது அனுபவம், சில மதங்களில்… See more एक बहुत मुश्किल जगह, स्थिति या अनुभव, नरक… See more એક ખૂબ મુશ્કેલ સ્થળ, પરિસ્થિતિ અથવા અનુભવ, (કેટલાક ધર્મોમાં) નરક… See more helvede… See more helvete[t]… See more Neraka… See more die Hölle… See more helvete [neuter], helvete… See more جہنم, حد درجہ ناخوشگوار, دوزخ… See more пекло… See more నరక సదృశమైన, చాలా అసహ్యకరమైన లేదా కష్టతరమైన చోటు, పరిస్థితి లేదా అనుభవం… See more নরক, অত্যন্ত অপ্রীতিকর অথবা সঙ্কটপূর্ণ জায়গা, পরিস্থিতি বা অভিজ্ঞতা… See more peklo… See more neraka… See more ขุมนรก… See more địa ngục… See more piekło… See more 지옥, 지옥 같은 경험, “he will”의 축약형… See more inferno, un inferno, forma contratta di “he will”… See more Need a translator?

Get a quick, free translation!

Translator tool

Browse

heliskier heliskiing helium helix hell hell for leather idiom hell on earth idiom hell yes/no idiom Hell's Angels {{#randomImageQuizHook.filename}} {{#randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} Test your vocabulary with our fun image quizzes Try a quiz now {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{^randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.filename}}

More meanings of hell

• hell's bells
• sheer hell
• Hell's Angels
• beat the hell out of something/doing something
• hell-hound, at hellhound
• hell of a, at helluva
• hell's teeth, at hell's bells

See all meanings

• the hell out of idiom
• to hell with someone/something idiom
• hell yes/no idiom
• to hell idiom
• from hell idiom
• like hell idiom
• raise hell idiom

See all idioms and phrases

Word of the Day

dragonfly

UK /ˈdræɡ.ən.flaɪ/ US /ˈdræɡ.ən.flaɪ/

a large insect with a long, thin, brightly coloured body and two pairs of transparent wings

About this

Blog

Throwing your weight around: idioms with ‘throw’

March 18, 2026 Read More

New Words

dogfishing March 16, 2026 More new words has been added to list To top AI Assistant Contents EnglishAmericanTranslations AI Assistant {{#displayLoginPopup}} Cambridge Dictionary +Plus

Learn more with +Plus

Sign up for free and get access to exclusive content: Free word lists and quizzes from Cambridge Tools to create your own word lists and quizzes Word lists shared by our community of dictionary fans Sign up now or Log in Cambridge Dictionary +Plus

Learn more with +Plus

Create word lists and quizzes for free Sign up now or Log in {{/displayLoginPopup}} {{#displayClassicSurvey}} {{/displayClassicSurvey}}

• Cambridge Dictionary +Plus
• My profile
• +Plus help
• Log out

AI Assistant Dictionary Definitions Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English English Learner’s Dictionary Essential British English Essential American English Translations Click on the arrows to change the translation direction. Bilingual Dictionaries English–Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Simplified)–English English–Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Traditional)–English English–Danish Danish–English English–Dutch Dutch–English English–French French–English English–German German–English English–Indonesian Indonesian–English English–Italian Italian–English English–Japanese Japanese–English English–Norwegian Norwegian–English English–Polish Polish–English English–Portuguese Portuguese–English English–Spanish Spanish–English English–Swedish Swedish–English Semi-bilingual Dictionaries English–Arabic English–Bengali English–Catalan English–Czech English–Gujarati English–Hindi English–Korean English–Malay English–Marathi English–Russian English–Tamil English–Telugu English–Thai English–Turkish English–Ukrainian English–Urdu English–Vietnamese Translate Grammar Thesaurus Pronunciation Cambridge Dictionary +Plus Games {{userName}}

• Cambridge Dictionary +Plus
• My profile
• +Plus help
• Log out

Log in / Sign up English (UK) Change English (UK) English (US) Español Português 中文 (简体) 正體中文 (繁體) Dansk Deutsch Français Italiano Nederlands Norsk Polski Русский Türkçe Tiếng Việt Svenska Українська 日本語 한국어 ગુજરાતી தமிழ் తెలుగు বাঙ্গালি मराठी हिंदी Follow us Choose a dictionary

• Recent and Recommended {{#preferredDictionaries}} {{name}} {{/preferredDictionaries}}
• Definitions Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English English Learner’s Dictionary Essential British English Essential American English
• Grammar and thesaurus Usage explanations of natural written and spoken English Grammar Thesaurus
• Pronunciation British and American pronunciations with audio English Pronunciation
• Translation Click on the arrows to change the translation direction. Bilingual Dictionaries
  • English–Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Simplified)–English
  • English–Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Traditional)–English
  • English–Danish Danish–English
  • English–Dutch Dutch–English
  • English–French French–English
  • English–German German–English
  • English–Indonesian Indonesian–English
  • English–Italian Italian–English
  • English–Japanese Japanese–English
  • English–Norwegian Norwegian–English
  • English–Polish Polish–English
  • English–Portuguese Portuguese–English
  • English–Spanish Spanish–English
  • English–Swedish Swedish–English
  Semi-bilingual Dictionaries English–Arabic English–Bengali English–Catalan English–Czech English–Gujarati English–Hindi English–Korean English–Malay English–Marathi English–Russian English–Tamil English–Telugu English–Thai English–Turkish English–Ukrainian English–Urdu English–Vietnamese
• Dictionary +Plus Word Lists

Choose your language English (UK) English (US) Español Português 中文 (简体) 正體中文 (繁體) Dansk Deutsch Français Italiano Nederlands Norsk Polski Русский Türkçe Tiếng Việt Svenska Українська 日本語 한국어 ગુજરાતી தமிழ் తెలుగు বাঙ্গালি मराठी हिंदी Contents

• English   
  • Noun 
    • hell
    • make someone's life hell
  Exclamation, noun
• American   
  • Noun 
    • hell (PLACE)
    • hell (CONDITION)
  • Exclamation 
    • hell (EXPRESSION)

• Translations
• Grammar
• All translations

My word lists

To add hell to a word list please sign up or log in.

Sign up or Log in My word lists

Add hell to one of your lists below, or create a new one.

{{#verifyErrors}}

{{message}}

{{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{#message}}

{{message}}

{{/message}} {{^message}}

Something went wrong.

{{/message}} {{/verifyErrors}} {{name}} More Go to your word lists {{#verifyErrors}}

{{message}}

{{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{#message}}

{{message}}

{{/message}} {{^message}}

Something went wrong.

{{/message}} {{/verifyErrors}} Tell us about this example sentence: The word in the example sentence does not match the entry word. The sentence contains offensive content. Cancel Submit Thanks! Your feedback will be reviewed. {{#verifyErrors}}

{{message}}

{{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{#message}}

{{message}}

{{/message}} {{^message}}

There was a problem sending your report.

{{/message}} {{/verifyErrors}} The word in the example sentence does not match the entry word. The sentence contains offensive content. Cancel Submit Thanks! Your feedback will be reviewed. {{#verifyErrors}}

{{message}}

{{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{#message}}

{{message}}

{{/message}} {{^message}}

There was a problem sending your report.

{{/message}} {{/verifyErrors}}