as in horrific
very bad or evil; deserving of hate or contempt
These murders were especially heinous. the heinous brutality of the attack
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Recent Examples of heinous
Officials are trying to figure out why a 15-year-old girl allegedly opened fire at her school, Abundant Life Christian School, killing a fellow student and teacher in a heinous crime that shocked the community of Madison, Wisconsin.
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Emily Shapiro, ABC News, 17 Dec. 2024
Under Assad and his father, Hafez, the Syrian government did heinous things to maintain power, brutalizing and immiserating Syria’s people.
—Sam Heller, Foreign Affairs, 16 Dec. 2024
Earlier this week, JAY-Z was tied to the heinous allegations against Combs with a victim accusing the Brooklyn rapper of rape.
—Demicia Inman, VIBE.com, 11 Dec. 2024
As fans may recall, Clyde has been behind heinous crimes including murder, rape, and blackmail, in addition to running a drug ring during his time in Salem.
—Stephanie Wenger, People.com, 13 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for heinous 
Emily Shapiro, ABC News, 17 Dec. 2024
Under Assad and his father, Hafez, the Syrian government did heinous things to maintain power, brutalizing and immiserating Syria’s people.
—Sam Heller, Foreign Affairs, 16 Dec. 2024
Earlier this week, JAY-Z was tied to the heinous allegations against Combs with a victim accusing the Brooklyn rapper of rape.
—Demicia Inman, VIBE.com, 11 Dec. 2024
As fans may recall, Clyde has been behind heinous crimes including murder, rape, and blackmail, in addition to running a drug ring during his time in Salem.
—Stephanie Wenger, People.com, 13 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for heinous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for heinous
Adjective
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Eric Gordon was also supposed to provide some secondary ball-handling off the bench in theory, but the soon-to-be 36-year-old is off to a horrific start this season.Bryan Toporek, Forbes, 16 Dec. 2024
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Former detainees at the horrific Saydnaya prison near Damascus said Amer had disappeared in mid-April 2015 after being tortured there.Raja Razek, CNN, 16 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Prehistoric Rock Art Sites Created 'Multisensory Experience' For Hunter-Gatherers By Aristos Georgiou Science and Health Reporter 0 A collection of prehistoric human remains has revealed gruesome insights into a brutal massacre that took place more than 4,000 years ago.Raja Krishnamoorthi, Newsweek, 16 Dec. 2024
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Police think the gruesome gunshot death is suicide.Bryan Alexander, USA TODAY, 16 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Los Angeles County is suing the owner of Chiquita Canyon Landfill for failing to control a high-temperature chemical reaction that is cooking garbage and sickening nearby residents.Tony Briscoe, Los Angeles Times, 17 Dec. 2024
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And to sit up there, man, and to be just blatantly hypocritical is funny and sickening at the same time.Stephan Pechdimaldji, Newsweek, 14 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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The most shocking moment comes when Contessa accuses Dr. Damon of infidelity and fathering mixed-race children—a claim the other ladies quickly shut down.Shelby Stewart, Essence, 23 Dec. 2024
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The Instant White-Hot Wild: Season 3 Episode 8 Soldier Boy turns out to be as big a villain as Homelander after a shocking twist forces Homelander, Ryan, and Butcher into an unholy alliance.Gord Magill, Newsweek, 22 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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As such, narratives published in the magazine presented towns under British control, such as Ipoh, as modern and progressive, while neighboring cities like Bangkok in Siam or Palembang in the Dutch East Indies were depicted as disorderly, dirty, unsafe, and disgusting.H.M.A. Leow, JSTOR Daily, 22 Dec. 2024
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Despite the disgusting chaos of it all, what was notable about Webster's video was that, in spite of it all, he could be seen laughing by the end of the clip.Gord Magill, Newsweek, 21 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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That would be a terrible mistake, the Fienberg brothers argued in a Dec. 17 letter that addressed only Bowers’s federal death sentence.David Mark, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 22 Dec. 2024
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People talk about the terrible twos, but she’s found her foothold in that kind of behavior, and there’s just no reasoning with her.Alex Morris, Rolling Stone, 21 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Despite Fraser Forster making a couple of horrible mistakes in the Carabao Cup quarter-final against Manchester United, then conceding six against Liverpool, the wisest move might be to sign a younger back-up goalkeeper for the long-term.Jack Pitt-Brooke, The Athletic, 26 Dec. 2024
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Specifically, Trump often points to the horrible human costs of the war and indicates a desire to put an end to the fighting as soon as possible.Samuel Charap, Foreign Affairs, 24 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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After yet another ugly showing, that’s the question Yzerman may have to spend his holiday pondering.Max Bultman, The Athletic, 24 Dec. 2024
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Before us, Aghdam, once a vibrant urban hub, exposed the ugly scars of war.Daphne Ewing-Chow, Forbes, 23 Dec. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near heinous
Cite this Entry
“Heinous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/heinous. Accessed 30 Dec. 2024.
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