hellcatn.
/ˈhɛlkat/, U.S. /ˈhɛlˌkæt/ 1. An evil person, suggestive of a creature from hell; a monster. Now usually: a person who causes trouble or creates chaos, esp. by wild or outrageous behaviour; a pest, hellraiser. Now chiefly U.S.In quot. 1899: a person with a devil-may-care attitude.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > dissent > lack of peacefulness > [noun] > persons full of strife > one who causes disturbance or trouble
disturberc1290
troublera1382
distroublerc1440
disturblerc1440
shakebucklera1538
hellcat1603
trouble-feast1603
trouble-rest1605
trouble-house1608
trouble-cupa1610
trouble-state1609
seek-trouble1611
trouble-town1619
trouble-world1663
hellion1845
rowdy1859
bad actor1879
ratbag1890
disturbant1894
trouble-maker1923
performer1937
messer1942
shit-stirrer1961
society > morality > moral evil > wrong conduct > evildoing or wrongdoing > [noun] > evil-doer
scatheOE
misdoera1325
malfeasorc1380
evil-doer1398
forfeiter1413
wrongerc1449
malefactor?c1450
wicked-doerc1450
wrongdoerc1450
felonian1594
hellcat1603
commissioner1651
misactor1659
malfeasant1867
1603 A. Dent Ruine of Rome xiv. 265 What trow yee wil be the end of..a company of most vgly & monstrous helcats.
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Hell-cat, a very Lewd Rakehelly Fellow.
1699 E. Ward London Spy I. vii. 6 A Colony of Hell-cats, planted here by the Devil, as a Mischief to Mankind.
1718 C. Hitchin Receivers & Thief-takers 12 That heap of Boys at that Table..playing at Dice, Swearing, Cursing and grinning at each other, like so many Hell-Cats.
1786 J. Johnstone Disbanded Officer i. iii. 5 Now the hell-cat purs. Oh! that I could but drill that round back of his.
1845 B. Disraeli Sybil III. vi. vi. 214 The Hell-cats as they [sc. Chartist agitators] call themselves halt at every town and offer fifty pounds for a live policeman.
1899 B. W. Green Word-bk. Virginia Folk-speech 183 Hell-cat Billy Jones.
1902 B. Kirkby in Eng. Dial. Dict. III. 135/2 [W. Yorks.]_He's a hell-cat is yond.
a1940 F. S. Fitzgerald Last Tycoon (1958) v. 410 He was a painter of sorts and a hell-cat.
1972 Yuma (Arizona) Daily Sun 31 Mar. 11/1 The oldest is a boy 10, a real hell-cat.
2006 Grand Rapids (Mich.) Press (Nexis) 3 Oct. a6 If your son was sort of a hellcat, you might say he was the wild man of Borneo.
2. spec. Applied to a woman or girl: a vicious, spiteful, or evil woman; a witch.In later use, frequently implying sexual aggressiveness or a heightened sexual appetite.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > badness or evil > evil person > [noun] > female
viragoc1386
meschyne1490
hellcat1612
hell hag1615
feloness1845
society > morality > moral evil > [noun] > place of evil > quality of being hellish > thing or person > woman
hellcat1612
hell hag1615
demoness1856
1612 in A. I. Ritchie Churches St. Baldred (1880) 110 Jenat Lyttster loikit in his face like ane hellcat.
a1627 T. Middleton Witch (1945) ii. ii. 743 The whorson old Helcat, would haue given me the Brayne of a Catt.
1723 C. Walker Authentick Mem. Sally Salisbury 121 The dangerous Hell-Cat had secur'd the five Pieces, and what else she could pick up that was to her liking.
1793 J. O'Keeffe World in Village iii. i. 27 She's a damn'd hell-cat.
1837 F. Marryat Snarleyyow (ed. 2) II. xi. 220 A hell-cat, who hates me as she does the devil.
1851 E. Ely Diary 5 Mar. in A. Sirna & A. Sirna Wanderings E. Ely (1954) 29 She has been called by them a perfect hell-cat.
1927 Frederick (Maryland) Post 16 May 6/1 I guess the old hell cat's been spying on one of us..and is running to the boss with her knitting bag full of scandal.
1976 A. Garber Mountain-ese 40 Llewellen shore married a hell-cat, they's no way on earth to handle her.
2003 Independent 12 July (Mag.) 16 He starts to explain: how his wife Dot is a hellcat in the sack.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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