Meanings
- idiomaticuncountableA very unpleasant situation; torment, particularly when widespread.
Oleshky, across the Dnipro River from the southern city of Kherson, has become “a hell on earth”, according to Ukrainians familiar with conditions there.
2026 September 27, Peter Beaumont, Artem Mazhulin, “‘Hell on earth’: last residents eat weeds to survive in Russian-occupied Oleshky”, in The Guardian, →ISSN1 more example
if the limitations of the environment are compensated for in the interior of each person who feels held within a network of solidarity and belonging, […] any place can turn from being a hell on earth into the setting for a dignified life.
2015, Pope Francis, Laudato si', Paragraph 148
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 人間地獄 /人间地狱, 活地獄 /活地狱
- 人間地獄 /人间地狱 (rénjiān dìyù)very unpleasant situation
- 活地獄 /活地狱 (huódìyù)very unpleasant situation
Finnish maanpäällinen helvetti
- maanpäällinen helvettivery unpleasant situation
German Hölle auf Erden
- Hölle auf Erdenvery unpleasant situation
Norwegian Bokmål helvete på jord
- helvete på jordvery unpleasant situation
Swedish helvete på jorden
- helvete på jordenvery unpleasant situation
Cite this entry
hell on earth. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hell%20on%20earth
“hell on earth.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hell%20on%20earth. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hell on earth,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hell%20on%20earth.
Source: hell on earth on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.