hell of a

idiom

informal + somewhat impolite

—used to make a statement more forceful

It was one hell of a good fight.

He is one hell of a nice guy.

: very good

She's a hell of a player.

: 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 An Algerian actor, dancer, gymnast, and model, Boutella has built up a hell of a resume since 2014’s Kingsman: The Secret Service upped her profile. —

David Fear, Rolling Stone, 20 Apr. 2024 Hulu 'Late Night With the Devil' David Dastmalchian has a hell of a role in this retro horror flick, starring as a 1970s late-night TV host in desperate need of ratings. —

Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 19 Apr. 2024 Not the most welcoming headline, but a hell of a read. —

Peter Rubin, Longreads, 17 Apr. 2024 He’s shown waking up nearly naked and bloody on a park bench, having clearly been on one hell of a bender the night before. —

Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Apr. 2024 Tochi is a first-generation Nigerian-American who politely deflects requests to say something in Igbo and would make one hell of a district attorney. —

David Fear, Rolling Stone, 5 Apr. 2024 Talk about one hell of a surprise: Sydney Sweeney brought her grandmothers to the movie's Los Angeles premiere of her wild new nun horror movie Immaculate... but neglected to tell them just how wild the film gets. —

Lauren Huff, EW.com, 24 Mar. 2024 Still, that’s not to say that One of the Good Ones isn’t a hell of a lot of fun. —

Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 18 Mar. 2024 That's a hell of a way to do business in America for such a serious problem. —

CBS News, 3 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hell of a.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.