hellacious

hellacious
adj
American
a.
appalling, awful, horrifying. A hyperbolic term mainly used and presumably coined by educated speakers, this is an invented elaboration of 'hellish'.
► 'Well, we made it but we had a truly hel-lacious flight.' (US visitor to the UK, June 2005)
b.
impressive, excellent. The term, like bad, wicked, etc. has since the early 1980s been used by the young to indicate approval.
Hey, they're a hellacious band.

Contemporary slang . 2014.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • hellacious — 1930s, college slang, from HELL (Cf. hell) + fanciful ending (Cf. BODACIOUS (Cf. bodacious)) …   Etymology dictionary

  • hellacious — ☆ hellacious [he lā′shəs ] adj. [prob. fanciful formation from HELL OF A (see HELL) + ACIOUS] Slang very great, bad, unbearable, etc …   English World dictionary

  • hellacious — [hel”ejas] 1. mod. wild; excellent. (Use caution with hell.) □ What a hellacious good time we had! □ Sally throws one hellacious party. 2. mod. terrible. □ The food was just hellacious. Yuck! □ …   Dictionary of American slang and colloquial expressions

  • hellacious — /he lay sheuhs/, adj. Slang. 1. remarkable; astonishing: They re raising a hellacious amount of money in taxes. 2. formidably difficult: We had a hellacious time getting here in the blizzard. Also, hellaceous. [HELL + acious (extracted from… …   Universalium

  • hellacious — Badass, wicked. That was a hellacious explosion …   Dictionary of american slang

  • hellacious — Badass, wicked. That was a hellacious explosion …   Dictionary of american slang

  • hellacious — hel•la•cious [[t]hɛˈleɪ ʃəs[/t]] adj. Slang. 1) cvb sts remarkable; outstanding 2) cvb sts formidable, as in severity or difficulty: a hellacious thunderstorm[/ex] • Etymology: 1925–30, amer.; hell+ acious (extracted from audacious, etc.) …   From formal English to slang

  • Hellacious Acres — Infobox Album Name = Hellacious Acres Type = studio Artist = Dangerous Toys Released = 1991 Recorded = Genre = Heavy metal Length = 46:43 Label = Columbia Producer = Roy Thomas Baker Reviews = *Allmusic Rating|3|5… …   Wikipedia

  • hellacious — adjective Etymology: hell + acious (as in audacious) Date: 1929 1. exceptionally powerful or violent 2. remarkably good 3. extremely difficult 4. extraordinarily large • hellaciously adverb …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • hellacious — adjective a) nasty, repellent b) remarkable, unbelievable, unusual See Also: hellaciously …   Wiktionary

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