hard-wired

American  

[hahrd-wahyuhrd] / ˈhɑrdˈwaɪərd /

Or hardwired

adjective

1. Computers.

   1. built into a computer's hardware and thus not readily changed.

   2. (of a terminal) connected to a computer by a direct circuit rather than through a switching network.

2. (of electrical or electronic components) connected by hardwiring.

3. pertaining to or being an intrinsic and relatively unmodifiable behavior pattern.

   Every cricket has a hard-wired pattern of chirps.

---

hard-wired British  

adjective

1. (of a circuit or instruction) permanently wired into a computer, replacing separate software

2. (of human behaviour) innate; not learned

   humans have a hard-wired ability for acquiring language

---

Etymology

Origin of hard-wired

First recorded in 1970–75

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hard-wired

And in a league hard-wired to drag down any team that inches too far ahead, anyone who resists the gravitational pull toward mediocrity has figured out how to beat the system.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

Without natural light, he hard-wired sconces found on Facebook Marketplace that recall ornamental 18th century candlesticks.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026

He theorises that inequality exists in a nation founded on pro-black, pan-African principles because a deference for whiteness was hard-wired into the region, long before independence.

From BBC ● Apr. 24, 2026

“All of that is hard-wired into federal funding,” Scheppele said.

From Salon ● Mar. 1, 2025

Music fulfills all of these criteria, and is definitely hard-wired in the human brain.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---