Jump to:

• hard hat
  hard hat

  noun

  a protective helmet of metal or plastic, especially as worn by construction or factory workers.
• hard-hat
  hard-hat

  noun

  a construction worker, especially a member of a construction workers' union.

hard hat

¹ American  

noun

1. a protective helmet of metal or plastic, especially as worn by construction or factory workers.

2. a uniformed soldier of a regular army, as opposed to a guerrilla.

---

hard-hat ² American  

[hahrd-hat] / ˈhɑrdˌhæt /

Or hardhat

noun

Informal.

1. a construction worker, especially a member of a construction workers' union.

2. a working-class conservative.

---

adjective

1. pertaining to or characteristic of hard-hats.

   enlisting hard-hat support for his policies.

hard hat British  

noun

1. a hat made of a hard material for protection, worn esp by construction workers, equestrians, etc

2. informal a construction worker

---

adjective

1. informal characteristic of the presumed conservative attitudes and prejudices typified by construction workers

hard hat Idioms  

1. A working-class ultraconservative. For example, They were counting on a large number of votes from the hard hats. This term alludes to the rigid protective headgear worn by construction workers, who were noted for their conservatism during the tumultuous 1960s. [c. 1960]

---

Etymology

Origin of hard hat¹

First recorded in 1925–30

Origin of hard-hat²

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

He is a Black Brooklyn native who came to the park from work, still dressed in his hi-vis vest and construction hard hat.

From Slate • May 30, 2024

Clad in a hard hat, sweater vest and orange work gloves, he drives to a nearby turbine and walks up a staircase to show us the machinery inside.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2024

I’ve donned my red overalls and hard hat to board the Glen Rosa to install cameras on its bow and bridge.

From BBC • Apr. 8, 2024

One of them, Hank Silver, wearing a yellow hard hat, stood on a platform above the Seine River and attached cables to oak trusses shaped like massive wooden triangles.

From New York Times • Mar. 29, 2024

The light in his hard hat couldn’t last forever.

From "Gregor the Overlander" by Suzanne Collins

Related Words

• helmet