hard-boiled

American  

[hahrd-boild] / ˈhɑrdˈbɔɪld /

adjective

1. Cooking. (of an egg) boiled in the shell long enough for the yolk and white to solidify.

2. Informal. tough; unsentimental.

   a hard-boiled vice-squad detective.

3. marked by a direct, clear-headed approach; realistic.

   a hard-boiled appraisal of the foreign situation.

4. (of detective fiction) written in a laconic, dispassionate, often ironic style for a realistic, unsentimental effect.

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hard-boiled British  

adjective

1. (of an egg) boiled until the yolk and white are solid

2. informal

   1. tough, realistic

   2. cynical

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Other Word Forms

• hard-boiledness
  noun

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Etymology

Origin of hard-boiled

1715–25; 1895–80 hard-boiled for def. 2; hard + boiled

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hard-boiled

Capra achieved many of his greatest successes in the employ of Columbia Pictures studio head Harry Cohn, a profane, hard-boiled character who operated by instinct and ruled by fear.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2026

"Everything I want done, I want done yesterday," she said in a recent interview on the campaign trail, where she reputedly refuelled by peeling hard-boiled eggs.

From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026

Clutton-Brock has joked that his most important discovery was meerkats’ fondness for hard-boiled egg.

From Slate ● May 10, 2026

It’s what I like to call a maximalist egg — an egg, whether omelet, scrambled, or even hard-boiled, that doesn’t skimp on anything.

From Salon ● Mar. 21, 2026

In March, Etienne turns sixty and Madame Manec stews little clams—palourd.es—with shallots and serves them alongside mushrooms and quarters of two hard-boiled eggs: the only two eggs, she reports, she could find in the city.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

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