Helluv

Altered

"Hella", in Berkeley High School Slang Dictionary, 2004, North Atlantic Books,

page 38

from intensifier hella (originally Northern California slang). See also .

Full definition of helluv

Adjective

1. (slang, chiefly N CA) Intensifier, signifies an abundance of a thing; much or many.Hey, if you guys get the munchies, there's helluv candy in the cupboard.
• 2006, Joylynn Jossel, When Souls Mate, http://books.google.com/books?id=6GY1v6CmCXkC&pg=PP8&dq=helluv&lr=&sig=95Jo6JMU_ZnvJXZL9eZfYmOk14Y… and all of the other people I have met who show me helluv love when I come through your town.

Synonyms

• mad

Adverb

1. (slang, chiefly N CA) Intensifier (modifies verbs); to a large extent; totally; very much.Dude, I helluv want to go to the show with you, but I'm soooo grounded.
• 2002, Peggy Vincent, Baby Catcher: Chronicles of a Modern Midwife, page 225“…. This helluv hurts.” We grownups burst out laughing, and I hugged her bony adolescent shoulders.
2. (slang, chiefly N CA) Intensifier (modifies adjectives); to a large degree; extremely; exceedingly.That new girl is helluv sexy.
• 2002, Peggy Vincent, Baby Catcher: Chronicles of a Modern Midwife, page 226“We had the baby, like two minutes ago. It was helluv icy. … Naeema was so brave, just hellabitchin', and I delivered the baby myself 'cause we have this hellafresh midwife who taught me how to do it.”
• 2003, Adrienne Anderson, Word: Rap, Politics and Feminism, page 14“Man, if I had never been to California and read that magazine, I would be helluv scared to come out there!”

Synonyms

• (extremely, modifies adjectives) wicked (NE US)

Interjection

1. (slang, chiefly N CA) For sure; totally; hell yeah; used as a strong affirmation of something that was just said, accomplished, or revealed."Hey, you wanna come to the concert tonight?" "Oh, helluv!"

Related terms

• helluva
• hella
• hell
• the hell

Usage notes

To many speakers, helluv is the more emphatic, or more intensified form of hella.

Shortened form, or elision, of phrases like "hell of" or "hell have", approximating casual speech in writing.

Contraction

1. (colloquial) Elision of "hell of".
• 1977, Curt Johnson, The Morning Light, page 214Oh, you goddam-betcha, Julie, it's one helluva lot better — one HELLUV A lot better — to be born dirt-poor. Course then you get to stay that way the rest of your life.
• 1997, Kat Martin, Innocence Undone, page 297“That's the helluv it — beggin' yer pardon, miss...”
2. (colloquial) Elision of "the hell of".
• 1997, Kat Martin, Innocence Undone, page 173“Helluv it is,” he grumbled. “I was thinking of marrying her myself. Wrote her a letter, but it didn't get posted in time.”
3. (colloquial) Elision of "hell have"
• 1973, Richard Cowper, Clone, page 99Where the helluv you been?