The Oxford Thesaurus An A-Z Dictionary of Synonyms - hardadj.

1) rigid, stiff, solid, inflexible, firm, dense, condensed, compressed, close, solidified, hardened; stony, rocklike, concrete, petrified, granite(-like) , flinty, steely; tough, rugged, leathery, callous; unyielding, adamant(ine) , impenetrable, obdurate, impervious, impregnable: The cement gets hard in an hour. This steak is as hard as shoe-leather. The metal was so hard that I broke three drills trying to make a hole in it. 2) difficult, laborious, arduous, back-breaking, burdensome, onerous, fatiguing, tiring, exhausting, wearying, strenuous, tough, toilsome: Laying track for the railway is a very hard job. 3) difficult, perplexing, knotty, puzzling, baffling, enigmatic, intricate, complicated, complex, tangled, involved, thorny, incomprehensible, inscrutable, unsolvable, insoluble, Colloq tough: There were a lot of hard questions in the exam. 4) stern, cold, callous, intractable, exacting, strict, demanding, hard-hearted, stony-hearted, severe, tyrannical, despotic, dictatorial, magisterial, oppressive, cruel, ruthless, pitiless, merciless, savage, brutal, brutish, inhuman, heartless, harsh, unkind, implacable, unsympathetic, dispassionate, uncompassionate, unfeeling, obdurate, indurate; unsentimental, insensitive, thick-skinned, tough, hard-boiled, stony, hardbitten, unfeeling, unsparing: Hemel is a hard taskmaster. Of the prison warders, each was harder than the next. He advocates taking a hard line against white-collar crime. 5) bad, difficult, grievous, calamitous, racking, disastrous, dark, grim, distressing, devastating, agonizing, painful, unpleasant, severe, austere, Colloq tough, rough: The years of the Great Depression were hard for everyone. 6) cool, unemotional, calculating, uncompromising, methodical, critical, systematic, practical, pragmatic, businesslike, realistic, penetrating, searching, hard-headed, Colloq tough, hard-nosed: Shareholders should take a hard look at the annual report. Chapelle drives a hard bargain. 7) sedulous, assiduous, devoted, conscientious, industrious, indefatigable, untiring, persistent, dogged, intent, eager, zealous, ardent, energetic, keen, avid: Galpin is a very hard worker who gets a lot done. 8) cold, bare, plain, straight, straightforward, blunt, unvarnished, unquestionable, verifiable, real, indisputable, undeniable, incontestable, incontrovertible, strict, inescapable, ineluctable, unavoidable, unalterable, immutable: The hard fact is that the bill has never been paid. 9) angry, bitter, acrimonious, hostile, antagonistic, harsh, unpleasant, unfriendly: I'm afraid there were some hard words between us. 1) 0 spirituous, alcoholic, strong: She won't touch hard liquor. 1) 1 addictive, habit-forming: He later changed from marijuana to hard drugs. 1) 2 sharp, well-defined, clear, distinct, stark, definite: Note the hard edges of objects in Realist paintings. --adv. 1) 3 vigorously, forcefully, forcibly, energetically, mightily, arduously, laboriously, strenuously, earnestly, actively, dynamically, eagerly, intensely, ardently, heartily, zealously, intently, spiritedly, diligently, assiduously, sedulously, studiously, determinedly, steadfastly, conscientiously, industriously, devotedly, urgently, persistently, untiringly, indefatigably, perseveringly, unfalteringly, relentlessly, doggedly: They always had to work very hard just to scrape by. He's hard at work writing his new book. 14 violently, deeply, intensely, badly, distressingly, painfully, severely, agonizingly: Failing the examination hit him quite hard. 1) 5 intently, carefully, earnestly: The judge thought long and hard before passing sentence. 1) 6 harshly, severely, badly, ill: It's going to go hard with her if she doesn't change her ways. 1) 7 hard up. poor, indigent, poverty-stricken, impoverished, penniless, impecunious, bankrupt, Colloq in the red, broke, bust(ed) , on one's uppers, Slang Brit skint: He's so hard up he can't afford a decent meal.