Words / C2

HAYN-uh-s/ˈheɪnəs/

Heinous means extremely wicked, especially of a crime (formal): a heinous crime, heinous abuse. Wicked and evil are everyday; atrocious (atrocity is already in the dictionary) is a cousin. Heinous is not highness or hector. Do not call a late email heinous.

Meaning

Extremely wicked, especially of a crime (formal).

Examples

• “A heinous breach of consent is not “a communications issue”.”
• “Evil is everyday. Atrocious can be very bad without being a crime. Hideous is ugly — a lookalike. Save heinous for grave wrongs; a sloppy slide is incompetence, not heinousness.”

Good to know

Utterly wicked (formal). Everyday: evil / wicked. Cousin: atrocious. Mix-up: hideous (ugly). Not a late email, and not a messy slide.

Near in meaning

wicked

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