Dictionary Home » The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms » hell has no fury like a woman scorned

hell has no fury like a woman scorned

hell has no fury like a woman scorned idiom
No anger is worse than that of a jilted woman. For example, Nancy has nothing good to say about Tom—hell has no fury, you know. This term is a shortening of William Congreve's lines, “Heav'n has no rage, like love to hatred turn'd, nor Hell a fury like a woman scorn'd” (The Mourning Bride, 1697). Similar lines appear in several plays of the same period. Today the proverb is often shortened even more, as in the example.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Comments
Improve this definition.
Do you have more to add? Share your linguistic knowledge or observation.
/Register to save your comments.