hardened
Americanadjective
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made or become hard or harder.
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pitiless; unfeeling.
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firmly established or unlikely to change; inveterate.
a hardened criminal.
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inured; toughened.
a hardened trooper.
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rigid; unyielding.
a hardened attitude.
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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.
adjective
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rigidly set, as in a mode of behaviour
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toughened, as by custom; seasoned
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(of a nuclear missile site) constructed to withstand a nuclear attack
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of hardened
Middle English word dating back to 1325–75; see origin at harden, -ed 2
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
This high-temperature firing process works somewhat like baking clay in a kiln, causing the zirconia particles to fuse together and form a dense, hardened material.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 23, 2026
Under the company’s framework, a model reaches the “critical” cybersecurity threshold if it can autonomously find and exploit vulnerabilities, or carry out end-to-end cyberattacks against hardened targets with only high-level instructions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Confidential,’” says Chhiu of the stunts in “Spider-Noir,” which follows Cage as a hardened private detective confronting the criminal underbelly of 1930s New York.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
Removing stagnant water, such as by emptying flowerpot plates, overturning unused pails and breaking up hardened soil, can help break the dengue transmission cycle.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
I’d hardened myself to this wretched life, but I shouldn’t have to.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
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.
