hell of a
idiom
informal + somewhat impolite
1
—used to make a statement more forceful
It was one hell of a good fight.
He is one hell of a nice guy.
2
: very good
She's a hell of a player.
3
: very bad or difficult
We've been having a hell of a time trying to finish on schedule.
This is a hell of a mess we're in.
Examples of hell of a in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Sinners has had a hell of a year.
—
Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 11 Jan. 2026
Whoever the club targets as their next permanent boss has one hell of a job to return them to their former glory.
—Peter South, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2026
Blade of Dream retold the events of the first book through what readers might have written off as secondary characters, maintaining the dramatic irony throughout and building to a hell of a cliffhanger.
—Literary Hub, 2 Jan. 2026
In the last five years, pop-punk and emo music has experienced one hell of a resurgence that has been celebrated, critiqued, and monopolized extensively.
—Maya Georgi, Rolling Stone, 30 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hell of a
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Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 11 Jan. 2026
Whoever the club targets as their next permanent boss has one hell of a job to return them to their former glory.
—Peter South, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2026
Blade of Dream retold the events of the first book through what readers might have written off as secondary characters, maintaining the dramatic irony throughout and building to a hell of a cliffhanger.
—Literary Hub, 2 Jan. 2026
In the last five years, pop-punk and emo music has experienced one hell of a resurgence that has been celebrated, critiqued, and monopolized extensively.
—Maya Georgi, Rolling Stone, 30 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hell of a
Cite this Entry
“Hell of a.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hell%20of%20a. Accessed 14 Jan. 2026.
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