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

The trouble was that Kael’s work taught you a hell of a lot about motion pictures, and quite a bit about Kael, yet very little about the magazine. —Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 5 May 2025

It was always intended as a one-and-done, but there's definitely a hell of a lot of intrigue about what happens next with Walker's journey. —Mike Miller, EW.com, 26 Apr. 2025

Crow loves the music that’s out there, with good reason: Her stamp is on a hell of a lot of it. —Chris Willman, Variety, 30 Apr. 2025

Toward the end of the 20th century, late architect John Petrarca and his wife—formerly neighbors of the property, having resided at 158 Reade Street—bought it in 1999 and proceeded to carry out one of hell of a renovation. —Demetrius Simms, Robb Report, 7 Apr. 2025

Rhymes for hell of a

• brava