hellfire
/ˈhɛlˌfaɪəɹ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.90 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Of or relating to a violent, apocalyptic and ultimate day of reckoning and judgment; usually characterizing a form of Christian preaching.
Example Sentences
- "The sound of the gang was diminishing into the distance, and the prophet of doom, restored to eloquence, was sending threatful bolts of damnation, hell-fire, and a brimstone gehenna hurtling after them."
- "The advance of liberalism, so-called, in Christianity, during the past fifty years, may fairly be called a victory of healthy-mindedness within the church over the morbidness with which the old hell-fire theology was more harmoniously related."
- "Sermons such as The Eternity of Hell Torments and The Future Punishment of the Wicked Unavoidable and Intolerable, as well as several manuscript examples, serve to mark the distinction between a true hellfire sermon and the proto-eschatological concerns of Sinners [in the Hands of an Angry God], consumed as it is with the here and now."
Etymology
From Middle English helle fire, helever, from Old English hellefȳr, equivalent to hell + fire. Cognate with West Frisian helfjoer (“hellfire”), Dutch hellevuur (“hellfire”), German Höllenfeuer (“hellfire”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈhɛlˌfaɪəɹ/
- British English: /ˈhɛlˌfaɪə/