Plural of hellfire; the flames or fire of hell as described in religious texts; or metaphorically, intense punishment, rage, or divine wrath.
From Hell plus fire (Old English fȳr). The biblical concept of hellfire appears throughout religious literature as the ultimate punishment for sinners.
Hellfire sermons were absolutely terrifying—preachers in the 1600s-1800s would describe hellfire in graphic, horrifying detail to scare people into being good. Some historians think the obsession with hellfire imagery says more about human psychology than theology.
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