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hell-raiser

American

[hel-rey-zer] / ˈhɛlˌreɪ zər /

noun

Informal.

a person who behaves in a rowdy, riotous manner, especially habitually.

Etymology

Origin of hell-raiser

First recorded in 1910–15

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Fedrick could be a hell-raiser, Williams told him.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 16, 2025

Lewis had been a hell-raiser since he was a youth, and he was no different as an adult.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 1, 2025

The company is named in honor of its founder’s father, who is described on Illegal Pete’s website as “a bit of a good-natured hell-raiser in his day.”

From Seattle Times • Apr. 24, 2019

Shaun White, a goofy hell-raiser when America first fell for him, had been reduced to tears.

From Washington Post • Feb. 13, 2018

If all he had been was a hell-raiser, Charlie Billingsley might have been in some trouble.

From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023