Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

hell of a

/ˈhɛləvə/

Word Rarity Common

Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.10 in modern English

Syllables: hel-l of a
IPA: /ˈhɛləvə/

13

Scrabble Score

7

Letters

2

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Intensifier; indicates that someone or something is especially good, bad, difficult, etc.

Colloquial

Example Sentences

"Well done! That's a hell of an achievement!"
"She had a hell of a time trying to open the jar. In the end she gave up: it was one hell of a cover."
"Where were you? / I got lost in the woods. / Wow! Hell of a place to get lost!"
"Yeah, this was one hell of a party / Nobody ever got to bed / But the morning after's killing me / And I have to rest my head"
""You’re asking too many questions. Look. You’re a cute kid. I mean, you’re a hell of a chick. You’re a knockout. But don’t go thinking you’re too important at this stage.""

Usage

Colloquial

Derived Forms

hella helluva

Phrases

heck of a big old

Frequently Paired Words

big old

Homonyms

helluva

Questions

How do you pronounce hell of a?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈhɛləvə/.
What does hell of a mean?: Intensifier; indicates that someone or something is especially good, bad, difficult, etc.

How to pronounce hell of a

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “hell of a”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈhɛləvə/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “hell of a”.
Repeat and practice — Say “hell of a” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.