English · Proverb Candidate

Hell is empty and all the devils are here. (William Shakespeare)

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

The present situation is extremely bad or evil

Literally: image of devils being outside of hell

Examples

Hell is empty and all the devils are here

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed on English Wikiquote “English proverbs” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31). Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.

Topics: Devils & ghosts

Common questions

What does “Hell is empty and all the devils are here. (William Shakespeare)” mean?

The present situation is extremely bad or evil Literally: image of devils being outside of hell

Is “Hell is empty and all the devils are here. (William Shakespeare)” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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