hard
Americanadjective
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not soft; solid and firm to the touch; unyielding to pressure and impenetrable or almost impenetrable.
- Synonyms:
- flinty, adamantine, firm, compact, compressed, rigid, inflexible
- Antonyms:
- soft
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firmly formed; tight.
a hard knot.
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difficult to do or accomplish; fatiguing; troublesome.
a hard task.
- Synonyms:
- exhausting, wearisome, onerous, toilsome
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difficult or troublesome with respect to an action, situation, person, etc..
hard to please;
a hard time.
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difficult to deal with, manage, control, overcome, or understand.
a hard problem.
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involving a great deal of effort, energy, or persistence.
hard labor;
hard study.
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performing or carrying on work with great effort, energy, or persistence.
a hard worker.
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vigorous or violent in force; severe.
a hard rain;
a hard fall.
- Synonyms:
- tempestuous, stormy
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bad; unendurable; unbearable.
hard luck.
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oppressive; harsh; rough.
hard treatment.
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austere; severe.
a hard winter;
the hard times of the Great Depression.
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harsh or severe in dealing with others.
a hard master.
- Synonyms:
- exacting, strict, austere, stern, unpitying, unyielding, adamant, obdurate, relentless
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difficult to explain away; undeniable.
hard facts.
- Synonyms:
- incontrovertible
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that can be verified; factual, as distinguished from speculation or hearsay.
hard information.
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harsh or unfriendly; resentful; severe; bitter.
hard feelings;
hard words.
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of stern judgment or close examination; searching.
a hard look.
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lacking delicacy or softness; not blurred or diffused; clear and distinct; sharp; harsh.
a hard line;
a hard, bright light;
hard features;
a hard face.
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(of a photograph) contrasty.
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severe or rigorous in terms.
a hard bargain.
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sternly realistic; dispassionate; unsentimental.
a hard, practical man;
a hard view of life.
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incorrigible; disreputable; tough.
a hard character.
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Scot. and North England. stingy; mean.
hard with money.
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in coins or paper money as distinguished from checks, securities, promissory notes, or other negotiable instruments).
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(of paper money or a monetary system) supported by sufficient gold reserves and easily convertible into the currency of a foreign nation.
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(of money) scarce or available at high interest rates.
a hard loan.
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denoting assets with intrinsic value, as gold, silver, or diamonds.
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(of alcoholic beverages)
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containing more than 22.5 percent alcohol by volume, as whiskey and brandy as opposed to beer and wine.
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strong because of fermentation; intoxicating.
hard cider.
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(of wine) tasting excessively of tannin.
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(of an illicit narcotic or drug) known to be physically addictive, as opium, morphine, or cocaine.
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(of water) containing mineral salts that interfere with the action of soap.
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(of bread and baked goods)
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having a firm, crisp crust or texture.
hard rolls.
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stale or tough.
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(of a fabric) having relatively little nap; smooth.
Silk is a harder fabric than wool or cotton.
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(of the landing of a rocket or space vehicle) executed without decelerating.
a hard landing on the moon.
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(of a missile base) equipped to launch missiles from underground silos.
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(of a missile) capable of being launched from an underground silo.
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Military. being underground and strongly protected from nuclear bombardment.
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Agriculture. noting wheats with high gluten content, milled for a bread flour as contrasted with pastry flour.
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Phonetics.
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(of c andg ) pronounced as (k) in come and (g) in go, rather than as in cent, cello, suspicion, gem, or beige.
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(of consonants in Slavic languages) not palatalized.
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(in the making of rope) noting a lay having a considerable angle to the axis of the rope; short.
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Physics. (of a beam of particles or photons) having relatively high energy.
hard x-rays.
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(of the penis) erect.
adverb
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with great exertion; with vigor or violence; strenuously.
to work hard;
to try hard;
to fight back hard.
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earnestly, intently, or critically.
to look hard at a thing.
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harshly or severely.
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so as to be solid, tight, or firm.
frozen hard.
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with strong force or impact.
She tripped and came down hard on her back.
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in a deeply affected manner; with genuine sorrow or remorse.
She took it very hard when they told her of his death.
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closely; immediately.
Failure and defeat seemed hard at hand.
The decision to ban students from the concerts followed hard on the heels of the riot.
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to an unreasonable or extreme degree; excessively; immoderately.
He's hitting the bottle pretty hard.
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Nautical. closely, fully, or to the extreme limit.
hard aport;
hard alee.
noun
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Nautical. a firm or paved beach or slope convenient for hauling vessels out of the water.
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British.
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a firm or solid beach or foreshore.
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a firm landing, jetty, or road across or adjoining the foreshore.
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British Slang. hard labor.
idioms
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hard up,
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urgently in need of money.
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feeling a lack or need.
The country is hard up for technicians and doctors.
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be hard on, to deal harshly with; be stern.
You are being too hard on him.
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hard by, in close proximity to; near.
The house is hard by the river.
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hard put, in great perplexity or difficulty; at a loss.
We were hard put to finish the examination in one hour.
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hard of hearing. hard of hearing.
adjective
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firm or rigid; not easily dented, crushed, or pierced
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toughened by or as if by physical labour; not soft or smooth
hard hands
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difficult to do or accomplish; arduous
a hard task
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difficult to understand or perceive
a hard question
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showing or requiring considerable physical or mental energy, effort, or application
hard work
a hard drinker
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stern, cold, or intractable
a hard judge
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exacting; demanding
a hard master
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harsh; cruel
a hard fate
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inflicting pain, sorrow, distress, or hardship
hard times
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tough or adamant
a hard man
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forceful or violent
a hard knock
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cool or uncompromising
we took a long hard look at our profit factor
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indisputable; real
hard facts
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chem (of water) impairing the formation of a lather by soap See hardness
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practical, shrewd, or calculating
he is a hard man in business
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too harsh to be pleasant
hard light
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(of cash, money, etc) in coin and paper rather than cheques
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(of currency) in strong demand, esp as a result of a good balance of payments situation
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(of credit) difficult to obtain; tight
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(of alcoholic drink) being a spirit rather than a wine, beer, etc
the hard stuff
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(of a drug such as heroin, morphine, or cocaine) highly addictive Compare soft
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physics (of radiation, such as gamma rays and X-rays) having high energy and the ability to penetrate solids
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physics (of a vacuum) almost complete
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(of goods) durable
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(of news coverage) concentrating on serious stories
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phonetics
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an older word for fortis
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(not in modern technical usage) denoting the consonants c and g in English when they are pronounced as velar stops (k, g)
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(of consonants in the Slavonic languages) not palatalized
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being heavily fortified and protected
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(of nuclear missiles) located underground in massively reinforced silos
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politically extreme
the hard left
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informal incorrigible or disreputable (esp in the phrase a hard case )
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(of bread, etc) stale and old
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a person not easily persuaded or won over
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a thing not easily understood
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near; close by
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a tough worker at anything
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unfairly or badly treated
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informal
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in need of money; poor
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(foll by for) in great need (of)
hard up for suggestions
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informal to ask or demand something from
adverb
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with great energy, force, or vigour
the team always played hard
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as far as possible; all the way
hard left
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with application; earnestly or intently
she thought hard about the formula
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with great intensity, force, or violence
his son's death hit him hard
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close; near
hard on his heels
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(foll by at) assiduously; devotedly
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with effort or difficulty
their victory was hard won
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( in combination )
hard-earned
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slowly and reluctantly
prejudice dies hard
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to cause pain or difficulty to (someone)
it will go hard with you if you don't tell the truth
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working hard
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scarcely having the capacity (to do something)
he's hard put to get to work by 9:30
noun
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any colorant that produces a harsh coarse appearance
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a roadway across a foreshore
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slang hard labour
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slang an erection of the penis (esp in the phrase get or have a hard on )
Related Words
See firm 1. Hard, difficult both describe something resistant to one's efforts or one's endurance. Hard is the general word: hard times; It was hard to endure the severe weather. Difficult means not easy, and particularly denotes that which requires special effort or skill: a difficult task. Hard, callous, unfeeling, unsympathetic imply a lack of interest in, feeling for, or sympathy with others. Hard implies insensibility, either natural or acquired, so that the plight of others makes no impression on one: a hard taskmaster. Callous may mean the same or that one is insensitive to being hurt as the result of continued repression and indifference: a callous answer; callous to criticism. Unfeeling implies natural inability to feel with and for others: an unfeeling and thoughtless remark. Unsympathetic implies an indifference that precludes pity, compassion, or the like: unsympathetic toward distress.
Other Word Forms
- half-hard adjective
- overhard adjective
- overhardness noun
- semihard adjective
- semihardness noun
Etymology
Origin of hard
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English heard; cognate with Dutch hard, German hart, Old Norse harthr, Gothic hardus; akin to Homeric Greek kratýs “strong” and classical Greek krátos “strength” ( -cracy ), from the Proto-Indo-European root kar-, ker- “hard”
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
