How to Use heinous in a Sentence

heinous

adjective
  • These murders were especially heinous.
  • 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 crime was heinous, the verdict just, the moral neat.
    Bret Stephens New York Times, Star Tribune, 27 Apr. 2021
  • And for the record, all the people involved in the heinous murder of Sgt.
    Molly Crane-Newman, New York Daily News, 17 July 2024
  • But this is a tragedy and deserves to be called out as heinous.
    Nbc Universal, NBC News, 27 Aug. 2023
  • They were primed to storm the Capitol and do all manner of heinous things.
    Bryan Box, The New Republic, 10 Sep. 2021
  • When somebody gets hurt because of that, that is one of the most heinous crimes.
    Dorany Pineda, latimes.com, 9 July 2019
  • And mom had found voice to come out as a survivor of a series of heinous crimes.
    Jessi Hempel, Time, 28 Sep. 2022
  • No one in their right mind would commit such a heinous act.
    Stephanie Nolasco, Fox News, 10 Apr. 2022
  • The heinous events on the streets of Minneapolis touched off a firestorm of protests around the world.
    Time, 19 June 2020
  • Give us a bit of background—and describe his heinous deeds.
    Jason O. Watson, National Geographic, 2 July 2017
  • Which leads to the heinous practice of people bribing the maître d’ at a restaurant.
    John Mariani, Forbes, 8 Aug. 2022
  • Stinky-ass shoes being heinous is an issue both sides of the aisle can agree on.
    Mark Anthony Green, GQ, 24 Sep. 2017
  • The sites of heinous crimes have at times been made available for jurors to view in person.
    Mike Baker, New York Times, 28 Dec. 2023
  • The futile attempts to comprehend this heinous act, and the hours of hugs and tears, soon gave way to anger.
    Ted Deutch, Variety, 18 Oct. 2023
  • And so ensued the hunt for who was behind their heinous assault.
    Sarah Nelson, The Indianapolis Star, 18 Jan. 2024
  • The city's response was a resounding 'no' to this heinous crime.
    Aaron Katersky, ABC News, 18 June 2024
  • Why aren't colleges doing more to crack down on these heinous crimes?
    Kayla Webley, Marie Claire, 11 Dec. 2013
  • So why would the judiciary go so easy on such a heinous crime?
    Matt Ford, The New Republic, 4 Apr. 2022
  • What followed was one of the most lucrative and heinous robberies of all time.
    BostonGlobe.com, 2 Apr. 2021
  • The documentary has forced Watts to think about his heinous actions, says the source.
    Steve Helling, PEOPLE.com, 5 Oct. 2020
  • For a movie about killing your wife, wasting Cher is Faithful’s most heinous crime.
    Elle Carroll, Vulture, 20 May 2021
  • But the blame for this heinous assault falls squarely on the Iranian regime.
    The Editors, National Review, 16 Aug. 2022
  • The lynching was denounced by Finney in the newspaper as a heinous act that the city should not ignore.
    Timothy Bella, Anchorage Daily News, 19 July 2023
  • And in some cases, critics have tied Gascón’s policies to heinous crimes.
    James Queally, Los Angeles Times, 7 Mar. 2024
  • Against all odds, the girls survived, and so ensued the hunt for who was behind their heinous assault.
    Sarah Nelson, USA TODAY, 19 Jan. 2024
  • Destroyed them with fire and bullets—one of the most heinous mass killings in U.S. history.
    Roy S. Johnson | Rjohnson@al.com, al, 23 June 2022
  • White adults doing the most heinous things and just getting away with it or being called boy or like a kid.
    Janice Gassam Asare, Forbes, 11 June 2021
  • There’s politics and political art, which, like all art, can fall into categories of the good, the bad, the ho-hum, and the heinous. ...
    Brian T. Allen, National Review, 26 Oct. 2024
  • But the finale is marred by a truly heinous act of violence that is just stomach-churning to witness.
    Dave Nemetz, TVLine, 9 Oct. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'heinous.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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