HARD (harder, hardest)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does hard mean? 

• HARD (adjective)
  The adjective HARD has 12 senses:

1. not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure

2. dispassionate

3. resisting weight or pressure

4. very strong or vigorous

5. characterized by effort to the point of exhaustion; especially physical effort

6. produced without vibration of the vocal cords

7. (of light) transmitted directly from a pointed light source

8. (of speech sounds); produced with the back of the tongue raised toward or touching the velum

9. given to excessive indulgence of bodily appetites especially for intoxicating liquors

10. being distilled rather than fermented; having a high alcoholic content

11. unfortunate or hard to bear

12. dried out

  Familiarity information: HARD used as an adjective is familiar.

• HARD (adverb)
  The adverb HARD has 10 senses:

1. with effort or force or vigor

2. with firmness

3. earnestly or intently

4. causing great damage or hardship

5. slowly and with difficulty

6. indulging excessively

7. into a solid condition

8. very near or close in space or time

9. with pain or distress or bitterness

10. to the full extent possible; all the way

  Familiarity information: HARD used as an adverb is familiar.

 Dictionary entry details 

• HARD (adjective)

Declension: comparative and superlative

Sense 1

Meaning:

Not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure

Synonyms:

difficult; hard

Context example:

why is it so hard for you to keep a secret?

Similar:

herculean (extremely difficult; requiring the strength of a Hercules)

vexed (causing difficulty in finding an answer or solution; much disputed)

trying (hard to endure)

troublesome (causing difficulty or annoyance)

thorny (bristling with perplexities)

tall (impressively difficult)

serious (requiring effort or concentration; complex and not easy to answer or solve)

rugged; tough (very difficult; severely testing stamina or resolution)

rocky; rough (full of hardship or trials)

nasty; tight (exasperatingly difficult to handle or circumvent)

hard-fought (requiring great effort)

fractious (unpredictably difficult in operation; likely to be troublesome)

delicate; ticklish; touchy (difficult to handle; requiring great tact)

catchy; tricky (having concealed difficulty)

baffling; elusive; knotty; problematic; problematical; tough (making great mental demands; hard to comprehend or solve or believe)

awkward; embarrassing; sticky; unenviable (hard to deal with; especially causing pain or embarrassment)

arduous (difficult to accomplish; demanding considerable mental effort and skill)

ambitious; challenging (requiring full use of your abilities or resources)

Also:

demanding (requiring more than usually expected or thought due; especially great patience and effort and skill)

hard (dispassionate)

effortful (requiring great physical effort)

Attribute:

difficultness; difficulty (the quality of being difficult)

Derivation:

hardness (the quality of being difficult to do)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Dispassionate

Context example:

a hard bargainer

Similar:

calculating; calculative; conniving; scheming; shrewd (acting with a specific goal)

case-hardened; hard-boiled; hardened (used of persons; emotionally hardened)

steely (resembling steel as in hardness)

Also:

difficult; hard (not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure)

merciless; unmerciful (having or showing no mercy)

insensitive (deficient in human sensibility; not mentally or morally sensitive)

tough (not given to gentleness or sentimentality)

Antonym:

soft (compassionate and kind; conciliatory)

Derivation:

hardness (devoid of passion or feeling; hardheartedness)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Resisting weight or pressure

Similar:

erect; tumid (of sexual organs; stiff and rigid)

unyielding (resistant to physical force or pressure)

steely (resembling steel in hardness)

semihard (somewhat hard)

petrous; stonelike ((of bone especially the temporal bone) resembling stone in hardness)

woody (made hard like wood as the result of the deposition of lignin in the cell walls)

hardened; set (converted to solid form (as concrete))

granitelike; granitic; rocklike; stony (hard as granite)

firm; solid (not soft or yielding to pressure)

corneous; hornlike; horny (made of horn (or of a substance resembling horn))

al dente (of pasta cooked so as to be firm when eaten)

adamantine (having the hardness of a diamond)

Attribute:

hardness (the property of being rigid and resistant to pressure; not easily scratched; measured on Mohs scale)

Antonym:

soft (yielding readily to pressure or weight)

Derivation:

hardness (the property of being rigid and resistant to pressure; not easily scratched; measured on Mohs scale)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Very strong or vigorous

Synonyms:

hard; knockout; severe

Context example:

a severe blow

Similar:

strong (having strength or power greater than average or expected)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Characterized by effort to the point of exhaustion; especially physical effort

Synonyms:

arduous; backbreaking; grueling; gruelling; hard; heavy; laborious; operose; punishing; toilsome

Context example:

set a punishing pace

Similar:

effortful (requiring great physical effort)

Derivation:

hardness (the quality of being difficult to do)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Produced without vibration of the vocal cords

Synonyms:

hard; surd; unvoiced; voiceless

Context example:

unvoiced consonants such as 'p' and 'k' and 's'

Similar:

whispered (spoken in soft hushed tones without vibrations of the vocal cords)

Sense 7

Meaning:

(of light) transmitted directly from a pointed light source

Synonyms:

concentrated; hard

Antonym:

soft ((of light) transmitted from a broad light source or reflected)

Sense 8

Meaning:

(of speech sounds); produced with the back of the tongue raised toward or touching the velum

Context example:

Russian distinguished between hard consonants and palatalized or soft consonants

Similar:

velar (produced with the back of the tongue touching or near the soft palate (as 'k' in 'cat' and 'g' in 'gun' and 'ng' in 'sing'))

Antonym:

soft ((of speech sounds); produced with the back of the tongue raised toward the hard palate; characterized by a hissing or hushing sound (as 's' and 'sh'))

Sense 9

Meaning:

Given to excessive indulgence of bodily appetites especially for intoxicating liquors

Synonyms:

hard; heavy; intemperate

Context example:

a hard drinker

Similar:

indulgent (characterized by or given to yielding to the wishes of someone)

Sense 10

Meaning:

Being distilled rather than fermented; having a high alcoholic content

Synonyms:

hard; strong

Context example:

hard liquor

Similar:

alcoholic (characteristic of or containing alcohol)

Sense 11

Meaning:

Unfortunate or hard to bear

Synonyms:

hard; tough

Context example:

a tough break

Similar:

bad (having undesirable or negative qualities)

Derivation:

hardness (excessive sternness)

Sense 12

Meaning:

Dried out

Context example:

hard dry rolls left over from the day before

Similar:

stale (lacking freshness, palatability, or showing deterioration from age)

• HARD (adverb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

With effort or force or vigor

Context example:

slammed the door hard

Pertainym:

hard (characterized by effort to the point of exhaustion; especially physical effort)

Sense 2

Meaning:

With firmness

Synonyms:

firmly; hard

Context example:

held hard to the railing

Sense 3

Meaning:

Earnestly or intently

Context example:

stared hard at the accused

Sense 4

Meaning:

Causing great damage or hardship

Synonyms:

hard; severely

Context example:

she was severely affected by the bank's failure

Sense 5

Meaning:

Slowly and with difficulty

Synonyms:

hard; hardly

Context example:

he was so dizzy he could hardly stand up straight

Pertainym:

hard (not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Indulging excessively

Synonyms:

hard; heavily; intemperately

Context example:

he drank heavily

Sense 7

Meaning:

Into a solid condition

Context example:

concrete that sets hard within a few hours

Pertainym:

hardened (converted to solid form (as concrete))

Sense 8

Meaning:

Very near or close in space or time

Context example:

a strike followed hard upon the plant's opening

Sense 9

Meaning:

With pain or distress or bitterness

Context example:

he took the rejection very hard

Sense 10

Meaning:

To the full extent possible; all the way

Context example:

swung the wheel hard left

 Context examples 

But the fox managed to tie his legs together and bound all so hard and fast that with all his strength he could not set himself free.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

It's a hard thing I ask, but you will do it, will you not, for Lucy's sake?

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

It was harder to kill a husky dog than them.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

"It's hard to imagine any other agricultural sector being able to stay in business with such consistently high losses."

(Study Finds Mixed News About Bee Populations, VOA)

It’s really hard to separate the effects of individual components.

(Can Chocolate Really Be Good for You?, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The girl had to work hard during the day, and often the Witch threatened to beat her with the same old umbrella she always carried in her hand.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

My muscles are growing harder and increasing in size.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

But, no matter how hard we try to stifle a yawn, it might change how we yawn but it won't alter our propensity to yawn.

(Why Is Yawning so Contagious?, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

“It's very hard,” said my mother, “that in my own house—”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

High amounts of androstanolone may increase the growth of prostate cancer and make it harder to treat.

(Androstanolone, NCI Dictionary)