hard-boiled

American  

[hahrd-boild] / ˈhɑrdˈbɔɪld /

adjective

1. Cooking. (of an egg) boiled boil 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

They added that while historically, visitors "turned up with hard-boiled eggs, more recently these are often switched for chocolate eggs to be rolled down the hill".

From BBC • Mar. 31, 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

For my daughter’s sake, I never left our hotel or Airbnb without a full water bottle and a hard-boiled egg or two from the breakfast buffet.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 10, 2025

An egg hard-boiled for one pocket, another for his hand, a pile of stones.

From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff

Related Words

• hard-nosed