heinous

adjective

hei·​nous ˈhā-nəs 

: hatefully or shockingly evil : abominable

heinously adverb

heinousness noun

Did you know?

For eons, humans have contrasted love with hate and good with evil, putting love and good on one side, and hate and evil on the other. The association of hate with evil is baked into the etymology of heinous, which English gained directly from Anglo-French in the 14th century with the meaning we still know today; its source is the Anglo-French noun haine, meaning “hate.” Haine in turn comes from a verb of Germanic origin, hair, also meaning “to hate.” (The similarity between this hair and the other hair is coincidental.) Chaucer’s poem “Troilus and Criseyde” provides an early example of heinous in English: “He rang them out a story like a bell, against her foe who was called Polyphete, so heinous that men might on it spit.”

Examples of heinous in a Sentence

While admittedly the crimes rappers commit have often been more heinous than those committed by other entertainers, rappers seem to face more opprobrium. Though hip hop has become mainstream, much of mass media still has antiquated ideas of rap music and rappers. —Vibe, May 2001

The verdict … also defined rape for the first time as a crime against humanity, one of the most heinous crimes. The tribunal has previously tried cases involving rape, but defined the rape as torture. —Marlise Simons, New York Times, 23 Feb. 2001

It's hard enough to figure out what a defendant was thinking when he committed the heinous and bizarre act that has made him a candidate for the insanity defense. And state of mind is what the insanity defense is all about. —Laura Mansnerus, New York Times Book Review, 26 Oct. 1997

These murders were especially heinous.

people accused of committing heinous crimes

Recent Examples on the Web

Image Image Some civilians have a different view, citing instances where returning veterans — some of them former prisoners freed to fight in Ukraine — have committed heinous crimes. —Nanna Heitmann, New York Times, 7 Jan. 2025

Those heinous practices were part of American culture for hundreds of years. —U T Readers, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Jan. 2025

That heinous incident had a profound impact on the presidential race. —Gord Magill, Newsweek, 22 Dec. 2024

There’s no exact science here in separating those guilty of some heinous crimes from others. —New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 26 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French hainus, heinous, from haine hate, from hair to hate, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German haz hate — more at hate

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

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Kids Definition

heinous

adjective

hei·​nous ˈhā-nəs 

: shockingly evil : abominable

heinously adverb

heinousness noun

Legal Definition

heinous

adjective

hei·​nous ˈhā-nəs 

: enormously and shockingly evil

a heinous crime

heinously adverb

heinousness noun