Meanings
- not comparableBehavingdeterminedly recklessly, in a manner that lacks restraint.
She had been through several programs, to no avail; nothing worked, she was hell-bent for leather, she was intent on hurting herself.
2013, Clem Martini, One Hundred Stories for One Hundred Years, →ISBN, page 521 more example
[...] his Supply Officer was hell bent for leather to torpedo his tour as the Commanding Officer and wanted explanations, or at least reassurances.
2003, Edward Landers, Smooth, →ISBN, page 510 - not comparableSynonym of hell-for-leather (“very fast”).
“Gosh!” said Marking. “Where the hell did the Japs get that? [...Was that] a Jap plane? God damn, it was fast.” And I agreed, “It was hell-bent for leather some place.”
2009, Yay Panlilio, The Crucible: An Autobiography by Colonel Yay, Filipina American Guerrilla, Rutgers University Press, →ISBNSynonyms: hell-for-leather
- not comparableSynonym of hell-bent (“(recklessly) determined”).
It had been quite some piece of road from an eastern region of Arizona to SOD, but Jethro was hell-bent for leather. His desire for a meeting with Zelda Klemp had taken him over. He'd been driving since late the previous night ...
2000, Angus Wynn, Mojave Fringe, →ISBN, page 951 more example
I was determined not to be a back seat driver. I said nothing. I waited patiently for her to stop hugging the berm to keep distance from fast moving traffic. I waited for three thousand miles. She was hell bent for leather to get to our destination, ...
2006, Jeanne Elizabeth Siphron, Fit to be crazy: living with lithium and manic depression, →ISBNSynonyms: hell-bent
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbSynonym of hell-for-leather (“very fast”).
adverbSynonym of hell-bent (“(recklessly) determined”).
Origin
Apparently a blend of hell-bent + hell-for-leather, though sometimes said to have been initially applied to animals which behaved poorly as if they were bent on being turned into leather.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
hell-bent for leather. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hell-bent%20for%20leather
“hell-bent for leather.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hell-bent%20for%20leather. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hell-bent for leather,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hell-bent%20for%20leather.
Source: hell-bent for leather on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.