hard-bitten

[hahrd-bit-n]

adjective

1. tough; stubborn.

2. conditioned by battle or struggle.

   a hard-bitten army.

3. grim or severe in judgment or attitude.

   a hard-bitten old teacher.

4. hard-boiled.

hard-bitten

adjective

1. tough and realistic

Word History and Origins

Origin of hard-bitten¹

First recorded in 1775–85

Example Sentences

She plays hard-bitten Los Angeles divorce lawyer Fiona Sharpe, who heads to Ireland to resolve a mystery involving the father who abandoned her as a child.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The British screen and stage star won an Emmy in 1975 for her portrayal of hard-bitten but ultimately kind-hearted maid Rose Buck in the TV drama about class in Edwardian England.

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On the frigid coast of Maine, hard-bitten b***hes turn out to be the battered survivors in a brutal world of tradeoffs.

Read more on Salon

Old sceptics, hard-bitten by a quarter of a century of nothingness, were beginning to turn.

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He is hard-bitten by reality in these games, after all.

Read more on BBC