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

Etymology

Origin of hard-boiled

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

Example Sentences

A hard-boiled egg is something else entirely: firm, portable, reliable, tucked into lunchboxes or sliced over a salad.

From Salon • Apr. 3, 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

She was a fan of hard-boiled eggs and slices of fresh avocado, and she, too, loved to read about the pink of strawberry ice lollies and the red of sunsets and the orange of oranges.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 1, 2026

“That night we served the hard-boiled eggs with a piquant herbaceous dressing that is somewhere at the intersection of gremolata, chimichurri and paradise,” he continued.

From Salon • Jun. 7, 2025

On the cloth altar, she arranged baskets of food—quinoa and cheese and hard-boiled eggs, and as a special treat for the most recently dead baby, chocolate ice cream and a bottle of Inca Kola.

From "The Queen of Water" by Laura Resau

Related Words

• hard-nosed