Recent Examples on the WebMeanwhile, Ruby’s brother, Jewel (James Anderson), is an effete, fretful, stay-at-home Christian fanatic, strumming his guitar in the kitchen all day, preaching dire prophecies, and threatening her with hellfire. Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 9 Aug. 2022 The analyst said pictures of the strike posted on social media suggested a strike by an RX9, a hellfire missile armed with long blades aimed at killing targets with kinetic energy to minimize major collateral damage. Helene Cooper, BostonGlobe.com, 1 Aug. 2022 Christian upbringing was not hellfire and brimstone. Emma Green, The New Yorker, 30 June 2022 So in addition to flooding and hellfire, climate change is going to make pollen season worse.Los Angeles Times, 19 Mar. 2022 Free and young, self-aware and selling collegiate gold, cramped and cracked out, Auburn Arena screams hellfire when 7-1 center Walker Kessler swats a shot. Joseph Goodman | Jgoodman@al.com, al, 20 Jan. 2022 Sometimes shafts of divine light pierce the ceiling; other times, blazing hellfire flashes up through the floor. Helen Shaw, Vulture, 23 Nov. 2021 The Second Great Awakening, from the late 18th century to the mid-19th century, preached hellfire and damnation; upstate New York—seedbed of crackpots and ecstatic conversions, became known as the Burnt-Over District. Lance Morrow, WSJ, 17 Oct. 2021 Emal Ahmadi said his daughter Malika, 2, was among those killed by the U.S. hellfire missile.NBC News, 18 Sep. 2021 See More
Word History
First Known Use
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of hellfire was before the 12th century