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hard power

British  

noun

  1. the ability to achieve one's goals by force, esp military force Compare soft power

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

Stubbs and O’Malley recommend investors ”stay aligned with hard power industries to benefit from fiscal support and to hedge AI disruption.”

From MarketWatch • Apr. 22, 2026

Senior Pentagon officials have expressed a commitment to rebuilding American hard power.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 2, 2025

This war reminded the world, and America itself, of the enormous importance of U.S. soft power as well as hard power.

From Salon • Mar. 8, 2025

But even his administration thinks there must be some hard power too - provided by others.

From BBC • Feb. 28, 2025

The voice of a woman, harsh, high, and angrily complaining—a voice with all the freshness and the melody gone, and with nothing but the hard power of it left—was the discordantly predominant sound.

From Armadale by Collins, Wilkie

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