hard-boiled
Americanadjective
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Cooking. (of an egg) boiled in the shell long enough for the yolk and white to solidify.
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Informal. tough; unsentimental.
a hard-boiled vice-squad detective.
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marked by a direct, clear-headed approach; realistic.
a hard-boiled appraisal of the foreign situation.
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(of detective fiction) written in a laconic, dispassionate, often ironic style for a realistic, unsentimental effect.
adjective
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(of an egg) boiled until the yolk and white are solid
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informal
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tough, realistic
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cynical
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Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of hard-boiled
1715–25; 1895–80 hard-boiled for def. 2; hard + boiled
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.
Clutton-Brock has joked that his most important discovery was meerkats’ fondness for hard-boiled egg.
From Slate • May 10, 2026
Ms. Medina, playing the flustered, overtaxed Tiphaine, is terrific, as is Ms. Arné, whose Lucie has to toggle from hard-boiled detective to strategy-free investigator.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 21, 2026
To that, add your reserved hard-boiled yolks, blended in until the mixture thickens and turns almost custard-like.
From Salon • Apr. 14, 2026
As his deceit becomes apparent, the music shifts from crisp hip-hop beats to a hard-boiled film noir crescendo.
From BBC • Mar. 26, 2026
A mountain of hard-boiled eggs that turned into children when my hands touched them, dark-eyed children whose faces begged me for a handful of powdered milk, my clothes, whatever I had.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
