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 Giuliani had been “the epitome of the hard-ass, it’s-all-about-me-call-the-press-’cause-I’m-gonna-slap-the-cuffs-on-a-Wall-Street-crook lawyer-cum-politician,” journalist Ross Johnson wrote, then Mayorkas was his antithesis — a 5-foot-7, smooth-voiced empath who emphasized prosecutorial restraint.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 18, 2021
She told me later, “That’s when I realized you’re not a hard-ass — you’re an old softie.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 18, 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
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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.
