hard-set
Americanadjective
-
firmly or rigidly set; fixed.
a hard-set smile.
-
in a difficult position.
The troops were hard-set before their supplies came.
-
determined; obstinate.
Etymology
Origin of hard-set
1400–50; late Middle English harde set
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.
Guys with calloused hands and hard-set jaws, massed there at the bar in the Rickshaw, a mob hangout with a pagoda on the roof, across from the racetrack in Cherry Hill, N.J.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 14, 2020
“There’s definitely a grim hard-set expression I haven’t seen before. Probably from one of the sequels – one of those ‘oh god, I’ve got to save everyone all on my own AGAIN’ moments.”
From The Guardian ● Jul. 9, 2019
It was a freezing afternoon, the pitch churned and hard-set.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 26, 2018
Olynyk wasn’t on the lookout, either, because it hadn’t occurred to him that a hard-set pick would be reason enough for Oubre to take a run at him.
From Washington Times ● May 5, 2017
A faint flush of anger crept up his neck and spread across his hard-set face.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
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.
