Dictionary

hellfire en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˈhɛlˌfaɪə/ (UK)
• /ˈhɛlˌfaɪəɹ/ (US)

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”).

Meanings

1. Of or relating to a violent, apocalyptic and ultimate day of reckoning and judgment; usually characterizing a form of Christian preaching.
   • 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. 2005, Sang Hyun Lee, The Princeton Companion to Jonathan Edwards, University of Princeton Press, page 253:
   • 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. 1902, William James, “Lectures 4 & 5”, in The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature […] , New York, N.Y.; London: Longmans, Green, and Co. […], →OCLC:

Forms

Relateds

fire and brimstone · purgatory · inferno

hellfire en · INTJ

Pronunciation

• /ˈhɛlˌfaɪə/ (UK)
• /ˈhɛlˌfaɪəɹ/ (US)

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”).

Meanings

1. hell; damn; blast

Forms

hellfire en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈhɛlˌfaɪə/ (UK)
• /ˈhɛlˌfaɪəɹ/ (US)

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”).

Meanings

1. (uncountable) The fire of Hell.
   • 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. 1951, John Wyndham, The Day of the Triffids, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, published 1954, page 59:
2. (uncountable) Fire produced by the Devil, or a similar supernatural creature connected to Hell.
3. (broadly, countable) A fire that burns with unusual heat or ferocity.
4. (abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis) Ellipsis of AGM-114 Hellfire.
   alt of AGM-114 Hellfire

Forms

Deriveds

rain hellfire · heckfire

Translations (28)

ja 業火 (fire of hell) · he תֹּפֶת (fire of hell) · ur دوزخ (fire of hell) · ru гее́нна о́гненная (fire of hell) · ru а́дский ого́нь (fire of hell) · fi helvetin tuli (fire caused by the Devil) · nl hellevuur (fire of hell) · fa دوزخ (fire of hell) · et põrgutuli (fire of hell) · sh pakleni oganj (fire of hell) · hi जहन्नम (fire of hell) · it fuoco d'inferno (fire of hell) · fi helvetin tuli (fire of hell) · cmn 業火 /业火 (fire of hell) · he תֹּפֶת (intensive fire) · ar نَارُ جَهَنَّم (fire of hell) · cmn 地獄之火 /地狱之火 (fire of hell) · ur جہنم (fire of hell) · el πυρ το εξώτερο (fire of hell) · it fiamme dell'inferno (fire of hell) · pl ogień piekielny (fire of hell) · de Höllenfeuer (fire of hell) · fr feu de l'enfer (fire of hell) · sh паклени огањ (fire of hell) · pdt Halenfia (fire of hell) · fi pätsi (intensive fire) · pt fogo do inferno (fire of hell) · hi दोजग (fire of hell)