: stubbornly and often recklessly determined or intent
hell-bent on winning
hell-bent adverb

Examples of hell-bent in a Sentence

she's hell-bent on a career in show business and heaven help anyone who gets in her way
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
But there’s also a bit of distracting stunt casting in the form of Kurt Russell as a corrupt mogul named Dob McCoy, who has a special ability to turn locals against each other and ruin their crops, his castor farm an ominous foreshadowing of hell-bent poisonings to come. Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 11 Mar. 2025 How Sheridan creates these worlds complements the theme of one brave man — occasionally, a woman — taking on the malignant forces hell-bent on destroying this country. Stephen Rodrick, Rolling Stone, 9 Mar. 2025 There’s no doubt that if healthy, Brown will be impacting a team that is hell-bent on returning to the postseason for the first time in five years. Sahadev Sharma, The Athletic, 25 Feb. 2025 Fans online appeared charmed by the scrappy cast of characters who were hell-bent on finishing the Shakespearean work. Kalhan Rosenblatt, NBC News, 20 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for hell-bent

Word History

First Known Use

1731, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of hell-bent was in 1731

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Hell-bent.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hell-bent. Accessed 23 Mar. 2025.

Kids Definition

hell-bent

adjective
-ˌbent
: stubbornly and often recklessly determined
hell-bent on revenge

More from Merriam-Webster on hell-bent

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!