helluva
24
9.9
- adjective
- /hɛˈlʌvə/
- Informal
- You did a helluva job.
- a helluva lot
- a helluva lot more
Examples
-
"You've accomplished a helluva lot in just four weeks," Dan pointed out.
Fiction book (2001) -
Save you a helluva lot of trouble.
-
Ooh, that is one helluva security detail.
-
Heard it was a helluva good show.
-
Well, it's a helluva sad story, Doc.
-
But we played a helluva game.
-
Oh, this is just gonna be a helluva lot of fun.
Fiction book (1994) -
A helluva day in Los Angeles.
-
You're in a helluva lot of trouble, you know that?
-
That was one helluva performance by the band last night.
Synonyms
∞
7.5
Shows that something is very strong or important
136
9.0
A very impressive or powerful example of something
120
8.1
Very impressive or very difficult
98
7.9
Happening very quickly, with great effort or very strongly
15
9.9
A word people use to mean very
12
6.0
To emphasize something, like saying very
5
8.6
Very impressive or exciting in a strong way
1
9.9
Very surprising and impressive and said in a rude way
In a very energetic and excited way
Antonyms
How Strong
Surface Forms
Morphology
helluva = hell + a (semi-transparent) = of + hell + a
The word is a colloquial contraction of the phrase 'hell of a' whose intensifying meaning is present but the fused form and informal register make it non-regular and less predictable for learners. [Postprocessing: moved 'of' from base_words to prefix]
Etymology
Helluva comes from the phrase hell of a, where hell is used to add strong feeling and the words of a are often said quickly and run together. So calling something a helluva concert or job is a casual way to say it was very impressive, big, or intense.