helluva
Americanadjective
adverb
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(intensifier)
a helluva difficult job
he's a helluva guy
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(intensifier)
it's helluva tough out here
Etymology
Origin of helluva
First recorded in 1915–20; a phonetic spelling representation of hell of a in continuous rapid speech
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.
I’m not going to lie: That’s a helluva lot of cash.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 2, 2026
“You make a helluva lot more money with a weaker dollar,” the president said in July.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 28, 2025
I’d had a helluva lotta fun across Henderson that day, even though I’d never been there before, much less attended a UFC viewing party in the heart of it all.
From Slate ● Oct. 31, 2024
John Nieporte, the head pro at Trump’s West Palm Beach, Fla., golf club, raved about Trump as a “great boss and helluva golfer,” exalting his game from tee shot to the putting green.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2024
And the funny thing was, I sort of missed him after we moved, because he had a helluva good sense of humor and we had a lot of fun sometimes.
From "The Catcher in the Rye" by J. D. Salinger
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
