hard-wired

American  

[hahrd-wahyuhrd] / ˈhɑrdˈwaɪərd /

Or hardwired

adjective

1. Computers.

   1. built into a computer's hardware and thus not readily changed.

   2. (of a terminal) connected to a computer by a direct circuit rather than through a switching network.

2. (of electrical or electronic components) connected by hardwiring.

3. pertaining to or being an intrinsic and relatively unmodifiable behavior pattern.

   Every cricket has a hard-wired pattern of chirps.

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hard-wired British  

adjective

1. (of a circuit or instruction) permanently wired into a computer, replacing separate software

2. (of human behaviour) innate; not learned

   humans have a hard-wired ability for acquiring language

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Etymology

Origin of hard-wired

First recorded in 1970–75

Example Sentences

Because I work with words for a living, I am hard-wired to try to untangle sentences like this.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 21, 2025

“All of that is hard-wired into federal funding,” Scheppele said.

From Salon • Mar. 1, 2025

"I now understand that my conditions were like a reflex or an allergy, my response was hard-wired and no conscious choice was involved," he told the BBC.

From BBC • Dec. 13, 2024

This means the adaptation behaviors the bats employed weren't learned; they were innate, latent and hard-wired into the bats' brain circuitry.

From Science Daily • Nov. 25, 2024

Music fulfills all of these criteria, and is definitely hard-wired in the human brain.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin