what the hell
what the hell phrase: an intensive form of what.
Phrase (1)
what the hell
- An intensive form of what.
- What the hell is going on?
- What the hell is that?!
- Synonyms:
- the fuck, the hell, what on earth, what the fuck, what the heck, what the what
- Indicating acceptance, indulgence, or insouciance: Why not? Who cares?
- It’s expensive, but what the hell, you only live once.
- Surprisingly, dieters ate more ice cream after eating a large milkshake than after eating a small one. Dr. Polivy calls this the “What the hell” effect, which she describes as thinking “What the hell, my diet’s already broken, so I might as well eat everything in sight.”
- Synonyms:
- may as well, might as well, what the heck, what the hey, why not
Phrase (2) capitalized: what the Hell
what the Hell
- Rare form of what the hell.
- In short, the merchants with wares to sell / Consider my cash a crime / And keep advising me – what the Hell – / To buy what I need On Time.1962 April, C. S. Jennison, “I'm Leery of Firms With Easy Terms”, in The Atlantic Monthly, Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 30 Aug 2025
- My private library clashes with the rest of the leatherbound decor, but what the Hell.1996 August, Stephen Dedman, “Never Seen by Waking Eyes”, in Kristine Kathryn Rusch, editor, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, volume 91, number 2, West Cornwall, Conn.: Mercury Press...
what the hell meaning in Arabic, Persian, Thai and Vietnamese
what the hell in Arabic
- an intensive form of what
- مَاذَا بِحَقّ اَلسَّمَاء māḏā bi-ḥaqq as-samāʔ
what the hell in Persian
- an intensive form of what
- چه مرگته؟, چه مرضته؟
what the hell in Thai
- an intensive form of what
- ฉิบหาย chìp-hǎai
what the hell in Vietnamese
- an intensive form of what
- éo biết, cái quái gì
Examples of what the hell in a sentence
- What the hell did you do?
- What the hell are you?!
- What the hell do you want?
- What the hell is wrong with you?!
- What the hell do you think you're doing!?
- Then I suddenly thought, “Oh jimminy cricket, what the hell” and gave up the struggle.1964, Robin Douglas-Home, chapter 12, in Hot for Certainties, London: Longmans, →OCLC, page 135:
Synonyms of what the hell
Forms of what the hell
| alternative form (rare) | whatthehell |
|---|---|
| alternative form (rare) | what the Hell |
Origin of what the hell
Shortened from earlier what in the hell.
Words formed from what the hell
Questions about what the hell
- What does what the hell mean?
- What the hell means an intensive form of what.
- What is what the hell in Arabic?
- What the hell in Arabic is مَاذَا بِحَقّ اَلسَّمَاء (māḏā bi-ḥaqq as-samāʔ). See What the hell meaning in Arabic.
- How do you use what the hell in a sentence?
- What the hell did you do?
- What part of speech is what the hell?
- What the hell is a phrase.
Words near what the hell in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: what the hell (page history and authors); what the Hell (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-what the hell.ogg.
Cite this entry: “what the hell.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/what_the_hell. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.