devil of a

Idioms

Also,; hell of a. Infernally annoying or difficult, as in This is a devil of an assembly job, or She had one devil of a time getting through the traffic, or I had a hell of a morning sitting in that doctor's office. The first expression dates from the mid-1700s. The variant is a couple of decades newer and its precise meaning depends on the context. For example, We had a hell of a time getting here invariably means we had a very difficult or annoying time, but He is one hell of a driver could mean that he is either very good or very bad (see hell of a, def. 2).

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

devil of a

Bacon is having a devil of a good time playing him.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 3, 2025

"What happened was that in June 2016 the then-Prime Minister David Cameron evaporated, whistling, and then we had a devil of a job."

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2024

Dobbs had a devil of a time finding a rhythm.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 27, 2023

“Just the man I need to see. I’m having a devil of a time summarizing precisely what we stand for.”

From Washington Post ● Apr. 10, 2018

Shackleton gave them each an inquiring look, and then said again, “We’ll try it. It’s a devil of a risk, but we’ve got to take it.”

From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023