Advertisement
Advertisement
hard
[ hahrd ]
adjective
- not soft; solid and firm to the touch; unyielding to pressure and impenetrable or almost impenetrable.
Synonyms: flinty, adamantine, firm, compact, compressed, rigid, inflexible
Antonyms: soft
- firmly formed; tight:
a hard knot.
- difficult to do or accomplish; fatiguing; troublesome:
a hard task.
Synonyms: exhausting, wearisome, onerous, toilsome
Antonyms: easy
- difficult or troublesome with respect to an action, situation, person, etc.:
hard to please;
a hard time.
Antonyms: easy
- difficult to deal with, manage, control, overcome, or understand:
a hard problem.
Synonyms: tough, knotty, intricate, puzzling, complicated, complex
Antonyms: easy
- involving a great deal of effort, energy, or persistence:
hard labor;
hard study.
Synonyms: laborious, difficult, arduous
Antonyms: easy
- performing or carrying on work with great effort, energy, or persistence:
a hard worker.
- vigorous or violent in force; severe:
a hard rain;
a hard fall.
Synonyms: tempestuous, stormy
- bad; unendurable; unbearable:
hard luck.
- oppressive; harsh; rough:
hard treatment.
- austere; severe:
a hard winter;
the hard times of the Great Depression.
- harsh or severe in dealing with others:
a hard master.
Synonyms: unpitying, exacting, strict, austere, stern, unyielding, adamant, obdurate, relentless
- difficult to explain away; undeniable:
hard facts.
Synonyms: incontrovertible
- that can be verified; factual, as distinguished from speculation or hearsay:
hard information.
- harsh or unfriendly; resentful; severe; bitter:
hard feelings;
hard words.
- of stern judgment or close examination; searching:
a hard look.
- lacking delicacy or softness; not blurred or diffused; clear and distinct; sharp; harsh:
a hard line;
a hard, bright light;
hard features;
a hard face.
- (of a photograph) contrasty.
- severe or rigorous in terms:
a hard bargain.
- sternly realistic; dispassionate; unsentimental:
a hard, practical man;
a hard view of life.
- incorrigible; disreputable; tough:
a hard character.
- Scot. and North England. stingy; mean:
hard with money.
- in coins or paper money as distinguished from checks, securities, promissory notes, or other negotiable instruments).
- (of paper money or a monetary system) supported by sufficient gold reserves and easily convertible into the currency of a foreign nation.
- (of money) scarce or available at high interest rates:
a hard loan.
- denoting assets with intrinsic value, as gold, silver, or diamonds.
- (of alcoholic beverages)
- containing more than 22.5 percent alcohol by volume, as whiskey and brandy as opposed to beer and wine.
- strong because of fermentation; intoxicating:
hard cider.
- (of wine) tasting excessively of tannin.
- (of an illicit narcotic or drug) known to be physically addictive, as opium, morphine, or cocaine.
- (of water) containing mineral salts that interfere with the action of soap.
- (of bread and baked goods)
- having a firm, crisp crust or texture:
hard rolls.
- stale or tough.
- (of a fabric) having relatively little nap; smooth:
Silk is a harder fabric than wool or cotton.
- (of the landing of a rocket or space vehicle) executed without decelerating: Compare soft ( def 28 ).
a hard landing on the moon.
- (of a missile base) equipped to launch missiles from underground silos.
- (of a missile) capable of being launched from an underground silo.
- Military. being underground and strongly protected from nuclear bombardment.
- Agriculture. noting wheats with high gluten content, milled for a bread flour as contrasted with pastry flour.
- Phonetics.
- (of c and g ) pronounced as (k) in come and (g) in go, rather than as in cent, cello, suspicion, gem, or beige.
- (of consonants in Slavic languages) not palatalized. Compare soft ( def 26 ).
- (in the making of rope) noting a lay having a considerable angle to the axis of the rope; short.
- Physics. (of a beam of particles or photons) having relatively high energy: Compare soft ( def 29 ).
hard x-rays.
- (of the penis) erect.
adverb
- with great exertion; with vigor or violence; strenuously:
to work hard;
to try hard;
to fight back hard.
- earnestly, intently, or critically:
to look hard at a thing.
- harshly or severely.
- so as to be solid, tight, or firm:
frozen hard.
- with strong force or impact:
She tripped and came down hard on her back.
- in a deeply affected manner; with genuine sorrow or remorse:
She took it very hard when they told her of his death.
- closely; immediately:
Failure and defeat seemed hard at hand.
The decision to ban students from the concerts followed hard on the heels of the riot.
- to an unreasonable or extreme degree; excessively; immoderately:
He's hitting the bottle pretty hard.
- Nautical. closely, fully, or to the extreme limit:
hard aport;
hard alee.
noun
- Nautical. a firm or paved beach or slope convenient for hauling vessels out of the water.
- British.
- a firm or solid beach or foreshore.
- a firm landing, jetty, or road across or adjoining the foreshore.
- British Slang. hard labor.
hard
/ hɑːd /
adjective
- firm or rigid; not easily dented, crushed, or pierced
- toughened by or as if by physical labour; not soft or smooth
hard hands
- difficult to do or accomplish; arduous
a hard task
- difficult to understand or perceive
a hard question
- showing or requiring considerable physical or mental energy, effort, or application
hard work
a hard drinker
- stern, cold, or intractable
a hard judge
- exacting; demanding
a hard master
- harsh; cruel
a hard fate
- inflicting pain, sorrow, distress, or hardship
hard times
- tough or adamant
a hard man
- forceful or violent
a hard knock
- cool or uncompromising
we took a long hard look at our profit factor
- indisputable; real
hard facts
- chem (of water) impairing the formation of a lather by soap See hardness
- practical, shrewd, or calculating
he is a hard man in business
- too harsh to be pleasant
hard light
- (of cash, money, etc) in coin and paper rather than cheques
- (of currency) in strong demand, esp as a result of a good balance of payments situation
- (of credit) difficult to obtain; tight
- (of alcoholic drink) being a spirit rather than a wine, beer, etc
the hard stuff
- (of a drug such as heroin, morphine, or cocaine) highly addictive Compare soft
- physics (of radiation, such as gamma rays and X-rays) having high energy and the ability to penetrate solids
- physics (of a vacuum) almost complete
- (of goods) durable
- (of news coverage) concentrating on serious stories
- phonetics
- an older word for fortis
- (not in modern technical usage) denoting the consonants c and g in English when they are pronounced as velar stops (k, g)
- (of consonants in the Slavonic languages) not palatalized
- being heavily fortified and protected
- (of nuclear missiles) located underground in massively reinforced silos
- politically extreme
the hard left
- informal.incorrigible or disreputable (esp in the phrase a hard case )
- (of bread, etc) stale and old
- a hard nut to crack
- a person not easily persuaded or won over
- a thing not easily understood
- hard bynear; close by
- hard doera tough worker at anything
- hard done byunfairly or badly treated
- hard up informal.
- in need of money; poor
- foll by for in great need (of)
hard up for suggestions
- put the hard word on informal.to ask or demand something from
adverb
- with great energy, force, or vigour
the team always played hard
- as far as possible; all the way
hard left
- with application; earnestly or intently
she thought hard about the formula
- with great intensity, force, or violence
his son's death hit him hard
- foll byon, upon, by, or after close; near
hard on his heels
- foll by at assiduously; devotedly
- with effort or difficulty
their victory was hard won
- ( in combination )
hard-earned
- slowly and reluctantly
prejudice dies hard
- go hard withto cause pain or difficulty to (someone)
it will go hard with you if you don't tell the truth
- hard at itworking hard
- hard put or hard put to itscarcely having the capacity (to do something)
he's hard put to get to work by 9:30
noun
- any colorant that produces a harsh coarse appearance
- a roadway across a foreshore
- slang.hard labour
- slang.an erection of the penis (esp in the phrase get or have a hard on )
Discover More
Other Words From
- half-hard adjective
- o·ver·hard adjective
- o·ver·hard·ness noun
- sem·i·hard adjective
- sem·i·hard·ness noun
Discover More
Word History and Origins
Discover More
Word History and Origins
Origin of hard1
Discover More
Idioms and Phrases
- be hard on, to deal harshly with; be stern:
You are being too hard on him.
- hard by, in close proximity to; near:
The house is hard by the river.
- hard put, in great perplexity or difficulty; at a loss:
We were hard put to finish the examination in one hour.
- hard up, Informal.
- urgently in need of money.
- feeling a lack or need:
The country is hard up for technicians and doctors.
- hard of hearing. hard of hearing.
More idioms and phrases containing hard
- between a rock and a hard place
- cold (hard) cash
- come down (hard) on
- die hard
- drive a (hard) bargain
- go hard with
- no hard feelings
- play hardball
- play hard to get
- school of hard knocks
- tough (hard) row to hoe
Discover More
Synonym Study
Advertisement
Discover More
Related Words
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.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Browse