hard-ass
Americannoun
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.
“People with things to hide opened to him, unfailingly, until they detected a relentless hard-ass reporter at work.”
From Seattle Times • Sep. 1, 2022
“If he were a hard-ass to the Russians, it would have been difficult for him to succeed,” he said.
From Washington Post • Nov. 8, 2019
“He’s terribly flawed. He may seem like a hard-ass, but his weakness is his compassion for other human beings. I think people can really relate to him.”
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 17, 2019
The admin was a complete hard-ass about dogs behaving, so if your dog made messes or was disruptive or bothered people or got bitey or was loud, you were told not to bring them back.
From Slate • Sep. 17, 2018
“Being a hard-ass just doesn’t go with the system here,” said Big D. “You’re not going to change everything.”
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
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.
