hard as nails
IdiomsExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It was that he had all the best qualities you’d want in somebody; his heart of gold, and then you couple that with him just being hard as nails and tough, no quit ever.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2025
On these second-act hits, Tucker was no longer the wild and wise child; she was a full-grown romantic, who managed to be, at the same time, hard as nails.
From The New Yorker ● Aug. 23, 2019
The death of his son has pushed Cave further into fragility, though he is as hard as nails in some ways and more in control of his audience than ever.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 21, 2019
Chase did it, and he did it the way he's done everything else... hard as nails.
From New York Times ● Oct. 11, 2015
Ain’t nothing in the world that’ll get you feeling fragile quicker than seeing a growned person you know is hard as nails looking afeared.
From "Elijah of Buxton" by Christopher Paul Curtis
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
