hell-bentadj.adv.
/ˈhɛlˌbɛnt/, U.S. /ˈhɛlˌbɛnt/ colloquial (originally U.S.).
A. adj.
Usually in predicative use, with on, upon, or infinitive. Determined to achieve something at all costs; passionately or recklessly intent. Cf. bend v. 19.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > resolution or determination > [adjective]
stallc1275
unflichinga1340
adviseda1393
affirmed1440
constant1481
resolved1518
resolute1522
well-settled?1532
ratified1533
unbashed1536
bent1548
well-resolved1565
unabashed1571
determinate1587
undaunted1587
peremptory1589
confirmed1594
decretal1608
pight1608
intent1610
definitivea1616
unshrinkinga1616
naylessa1618
pitched1642
decisive1658
martyrly1659
certain1667
fell1667
decretory1674
martyrial1678
decretorian1679
invariable1696
unflinching1728
hell-bent1731
decided1767
determined1773
iron-headed1787
adamantine1788
unwincing1802
stick-at-nothing1805
adamant1816
hard-set1818
rock-like1833
bound1844
do-or-die1851
unbased1860
focused1888
capable de tout1899
purposive1903
go-for-broke1946
hard rock1947
take-no-shit1992
the world > action or operation > manner of action > carelessness > incautiousness > [adjective] > rash or reckless
recklesseOE
redmodOE
unreckless?c1225
hastivec1300
racklec1300
testyc1374
rabbisha1387
temeraryc1410
temerous1461
rash1509
temerarious1532
hare-brained1548
temerarec1550
hare-brain1566
hot-spurred1573
overrash1577
hotspur1586
madcap1591
wretchless1598
Phaetontic1608
zeal-blind1615
Phaetontal1617
unresponsable1619
Phaetontical1630
phaetonicala1640
Phaetonic1708
hell-bent1731
harum-scarum1751
unresponsible1764
suicidal1768
rumgumptious1781
shy1787
devil-may-care1799
bullheaded1818
devil-may-carish1825
temeritous1892
kamikaze1952
1731 E. Cooke Maryland Muse 1 Ab-origines in Arms..did then resort, In Haste to Susquehanna Fort, Hell bent on Thoughts of Massacree.
1824 Port Folio Mar. 179 A large encampment of savages, hideously painted, and ‘hell-bent’ on carnage.
1856 A. M. Murray Lett. from U.S. 179 All have plenty to do;..and then we are so Hell-bent on Heaven!
1910 W. M. Raine Bucky O'Connor ii. 21 I know your kind—hell-bent to spend what you cash in.
1935 A. Squire Sing Sing Doctor iii. 32 We'll always have people hell bent on doing what they want to.
1967 Spectator 24 Nov. 633/1 This report has been widely used to sustain the charge that the French government was hell-bent on feeding speculation against the pound.
1979 Washington Post (Nexis) 14 Oct. f5 Tanner has lived a baseball life of boldness, believing more than any manager in history that hell-bent aggression will crack an opponent's will.
2001 N. Hornby How to be Good vii. 104 Maybe she would have spent her life teaching adult literacy, or working with teenage runaways, if I hadn't been so hellbent on curing her.
B. adv.
In a hell-bent manner; with no effort or resources spared; all out, wholeheartedly, totally; determinedly, doggedly.The line cited in quot. 1863 is said to come from an election song of 1840, but this occurrence has not been traced.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > resolution or determination > [adverb]
strongeOE
fastOE
stably1297
strengthlya1400
unabasedlyc1425
unfaintlyc1425
four-squarec1430
strengthilyc1485
determinedlyc1540
resolutely1549
determinately1556
martyr-like1579
resolvedly1587
strongly1591
undauntedly1598
heart and soul1620
fairly and squarely1628
bently1645
decisively1653
supportinglya1664
setly1673
decidedly1770
martyrly1819
immitigably1824
staunchly1825
unshrinkingly1826
unflinchingly1833
hell-bent1863
square1867
fair and square1870
full-bloodedly1898
the world > action or operation > manner of action > carelessness > incautiousness > [adverb] > rashly or recklessly
recklesslyeOE
abandonc1330
rabbishlya1387
recklessa1450
savagelyc1450
temerarilyc1450
temerously1461
rashly?1518
temerariously1535
improvisedlya1538
hare-brainedlya1577
rash1591
wretchlessly?16..
over-rashly1609
bayardly1624
to run amok1689
harum-scarum1691
hell-bent1863
1863 N.Y. Times 23 Sept. 5/2 The glorious news..had just been echoed back from Maine..that Maine, which he had so much heard of in his youth, and which, as the song ran— ‘— Went, went, went, Hell bent, For Governor Kent.’
1891 San Antonio (Texas) Daily Light 27 Apr. The state of Texas, or at least its legislature, went hell-bent for the reform of railroads.
1910 C. E. Mulford Hopalong Cassidy xxviii. 184 As soon as we lick this aggregation of trouble-hunters, what's left will ride hell~bent for that valley.
1974 P. Gore-Booth With Great Truth & Respect 123 Their object was to go hell-bent for victory with all the stupendous war-winning momentum which the United States developed.
2002 Scotl. on Sunday (Nexis) 12 May 6 Listen to Kissin tearing hell-bent through the impossibly fast leaps of Schumann's Paganini portrait.
Phrases
North American colloquial. hell-bent for leather (also election, breakfast): at breakneck speed; rapidly; recklessly; (also occasionally) fast; reckless; zealous, determined. Cf. hell-for-leather at hell n. and int. Phrases 6e, hell for breakfast at hell n. and int. Phrases 6g.
ΚΠ
1899 S. Crane Twelve O'Clock in Pall Mall Mag. Dec. 462 One puncher racin' his cow-pony hell-bent-fer-election down Main Street.
1926 Lincoln (Nebraska) Star 12 May 6/4 Bold, reckless dare devils driving hell bent for leather.
1931 J. F. Dobie Coronado's Children iii. 104 I was going lickety-split, hell-bent for breakfast, trying to head off a gotch-eared brown stallion.
1967 Daily Rev. (Hayward, Calif.) 12 July 10/1 Thoroughbred race horses running hell-bent for election.
2001 Standard (St. Catharines, Ont.) (Nexis) 20 Apr. a3 The government is ‘hell bent for election’ on its plan to privatize the electricity market.
2002 Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.) 17 Apr. a2/6 The prosecutor said he doesn't know of any alleged victims from his country. If one comes forward, he said, ‘I would be hell bent for leather’ to prosecute.
2003 News Tribune (Tacoma, Washington) (Nexis) 24 Mar. e3 U.S. tanks..racing hell-bent for breakfast across the featureless Iraqi desert.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.adv.1731