devil of a (man, woman, fellow, etc.)

devil of a (man, woman, fellow, etc.)

A person who is extremely wicked, malevolent, or unpleasant. Only a devil of a man would do something like this, knowing that it would cause harm to so many people. The leader of the gang was a devil of a woman, known to kill anyone who stood in her way. Good luck dealing with Bob in Accounting, he's a devil of a fellow.

See also: devil, of

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

devil of a

Also, one devil or the devil of a ; 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).

See also: devil, of

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.