hellionn.
/ˈhɛljən/, U.S. /ˈhɛljən/ chiefly North American colloquial.
A rowdy, troublesome, or disreputable person; a mischievous child.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > harmfulness > playful mischievousness > mischievous person > [noun] > young
monkey1589
crack1600
irchin1625
limb1625
imp1642
booger1728
varmint1773
hurcheon?a1786
puck1823
hellion1845
faggot1859
Peck's bad boy1883
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
1845 J. J. Hooper Some Adventures Capt. Simon Suggs i. 18 The ‘oudacious’ little hellions!
1857 Jrnl. Discourses 5 135/2 We are going to dig a cache..and put all the whining men and women into it... We want to be released from such poor hellyons.
1896 J. C. Harris Sister Jane 136 If dey ever was a hellian he wuz one.
1906 ‘O. Henry’ Four Million 8 Jawn, did ye ever see a straighter-nosed gang of hellions in the days of your life?
1919 H. L. Wilson Ma Pettengill vii. 225 Three children that was known to be hellions.
1957 M. Mezzrow in S. Traill Concerning Jazz 26 Baby Dodds, our drummer in Nice, is a wonderful person, but in his younger days he was a real hellion, and would fight at the drop of a hat.
1992 M. Blonsky Amer. Mythologies (1993) xix. 487 She's supposed to be an iconoclast, she doesn't give a damn what she eats, she's the Lauder lady in public and a hellion in private.
2005 Toronto Star (Nexis) 19 Feb. h2 Watching those little hellions scamper around in a state of high-scream would be enough to mute even the loudest biological clock.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.1845