hard-ass

American  

[hahrd-as] / ˈhɑrdˌæs /

Or hardass

noun

Slang: Vulgar.

1. a person who follows rules and regulations meticulously and enforces them without exceptions.

---

Example Sentences

“People with things to hide opened to him, unfailingly, until they detected a relentless hard-ass reporter at work.”

From Seattle Times • Sep. 1, 2022

If Giuliani had been “the epitome of the hard-ass, it’s-all-about-me-call-the-press-’cause-I’m-gonna-slap-the-cuffs-on-a-Wall-Street-crook lawyer-cum-politician,” journalist Ross Johnson wrote, then Mayorkas was his antithesis — a 5-foot-7, smooth-voiced empath who emphasized prosecutorial restraint.

From Washington Post • Jan. 18, 2021

She told me later, “That’s when I realized you’re not a hard-ass — you’re an old softie.”

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 18, 2019

Which is not to say you need to be a real hard-ass about anything; this is just to emotionally buttress you against feeling like a monster.

From Slate • Jan. 24, 2018

“Being a hard-ass just doesn’t go with the system here,” said Big D. “You’re not going to change everything.”

From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover