Thesaurus
hard
adjective
Synonyms and Antonyms of HARD
1
having or showing a lack of sympathy or tender feelings <a hard man, who never had a kind word for anyone>
Synonyms affectless, callous, case-hardened, cold-blooded, compassionless, desensitized, hard-boiled, hard-hearted, heartless, indurate, inhuman, inhumane, insensate, insensitive, ironhearted, merciless, obdurate, pachydermatous, pitiless, remorseless, ruthless, slash-and-burn, soulless, stony (also stoney), stonyhearted, take-no-prisoners, thick-skinned, uncharitable, unfeeling, unmerciful, unsparing, unsympathetic
Related Words boorish, heedless, inconsiderate, thoughtless, uncaring, unfriendly, unloving, unthinking; grim, hard-bitten, harsh, heavy-handed, ironfisted, ironhanded, jackbooted, knock-down, drag-out (or knock-down-and-drag-out), oppressive, rough, rough-and-tumble, severe, sledgehammer, stern, tough, ungentle; abusive, acrimonious, disagreeable, hateful, ill-natured, ill-tempered, malevolent, malicious, mean, rancorous, spiteful, surly, virulent; barbarous, bestial, brutal, brutish, cruel, evil-minded, savage, vicious; austere, cold, frosty
Near Antonyms benevolent, benignant, gentle, kind; clement, indulgent, lenient, mild; cordial, friendly, good-natured, good-tempered, gracious; tolerant, understanding; affectionate, fond, loving
Antonyms charitable, compassionate, humane, kindhearted, kindly, merciful, sensitive, softhearted, sympathetic, tender, tenderhearted, warm, warmhearted
2
requiring considerable physical or mental effort <clearing land is hard work> <a hard exam to pass>
Synonyms arduous, Augean, backbreaking, challenging, demanding, difficult, effortful, exacting, formidable, grueling (or gruelling), heavy, hellacious, herculean, killer, laborious, moiling, murderous, pick-and-shovel, rigorous, rough, rugged, severe, stiff, strenuous, sweaty, tall, testing, toilsome, tough, uphill
Related Words abstract, abstruse, complex, complicated, elusive, hairy, insoluble, intricate, involved, knotty, opaque, problematic (also problematical), recondite, serious, spiny, stubborn, thorny, ticklish, tricky; bruising, burdensome, exhausting, labored, onerous, oppressive, stressful, taxing, tight, trying; annoying, bothersome, distressing, irksome, troublesome, vexatious; grievous, grim, strict, stringent; brutal, cruel, inhuman, painful
Near Antonyms achievable, clear, doable, elementary, manageable, uncomplicated; comforting, gentle, painless, relaxed, smooth, soothing; accessible, friendly, idiotproof, user-friendly
3
able to withstand hardship, strain, or exposure <they were forced to import sheep of a harder stock, one that could thrive in the harsh climate>
Synonyms cast-iron, hard, hard-bitten, hardened, inured, rugged, stout, strong, sturdy, tough, toughened, vigorous
Related Words flinty, leathery, resilient, stalwart; durable, enduring, everlasting, immortal, imperishable, lasting, permanent, stable, staunch (also stanch), staying, tenacious, unyielding; flourishing, prospering, thriving; able-bodied, brawny, muscular; fit, fortified, hale, healthy, husky, lusty, red-blooded, robust, sound, strapping, virile; annealed, seasoned, tempered
Near Antonyms emasculated, enervated, enfeebled, exhausted, run-down, sapped, wasted, weakened, worn, worn out; crippled, debilitated, diseased, incapacitated, infirm, unsound; fragile, frail, puny; resistless, sensitive, susceptible, unresistant, vulnerable, yielding; mortal, perishable, temporary, transient
4
based on sound reasoning or information <do you have any hard evidence that this was once the site of a Native American village?>
Synonyms commonsense, commonsensible, commonsensical, firm, hard, informed, just, justified, levelheaded, logical, rational, reasonable, reasoned, sensible, sober, solid, valid, well-founded
Related Words actual, real, true; certain, sure; certified, validated, verified; confirmed, corroborated, substantiated; cogent, convincing; colorable, credible, plausible
Near Antonyms unsubstantiated, unsupported, unwarranted; flimsy, implausible, unconvincing, weak; fallacious, false, misguided, misled
Antonyms groundless, illogical, invalid, irrational, nonrational, nonsensical, nonvalid, unfounded, uninformed, unjustified, unreasonable, unreasoned, unsound
5
difficult to endure <the hard life of a migrant farm worker>
Synonyms bitter, brutal, burdensome, cruel, excruciating, grievous, grim, hard, hardhanded, heavy, inhuman, murderous, onerous, oppressive, rough, rugged, searing, severe, stiff, tough, trying
Related Words austere, bleak, comfortless, discomforting, forbidding, inhospitable, spartan, uncomfortable; biting, inclement, intemperate, wild; rigorous, strict, stringent; agonizing, heartbreaking, heartrending, painful, wretched; crushing, grinding, overwhelming, wearing; insufferable, insupportable, intolerable, unbearable, unendurable; harrowing, tortuous; bad, disagreeable, hostile, unfriendly, unpleasant
6
extreme in degree, power, or effect <a carpet that withstood years of hard wear>
Synonyms acute, almighty, blistering, deep, dreadful, excruciating, explosive, exquisite, fearful, fearsome, ferocious, fierce, frightful, furious, ghastly, hard, heavy, heavy-duty, hellacious, intensive, keen, profound, terrible, vehement, vicious, violent
Related Words accentuated, aggravated, concentrated, deepened; emphasized, enhanced, heightened, intensified, magnified; stressed; exhaustive, thorough; harsh, rigorous, severe
7
given to exacting standards of discipline and self-restraint <a hard disciplinarian who is quick to punish the tiniest violation of the rules>
Synonyms austere, authoritarian, flinty, hard, harsh, heavy-handed, ramrod, rigid, rigorous, stern, strict, tough
Related Words demanding, exacting; uncharitable, unforgiving; adamant, adamantine, callous, hardened, hard-hearted, hard-line, immovable, implacable, inflexible, merciless, ossified, pitiless, relentless, rock-ribbed, stiff, unbending, uncompromising, unrelenting, unsparing, unyielding; dour, gruff; ascetic (also ascetical), monastic, monkish; browbeating, bullying; determined, firm, resolved, single-minded, steadfast, unflinching; dogged, intractable, obstinate, relentless
Near Antonyms easy, easygoing, laid-back, undemanding; charitable, kind, merciful, mild, patient, soft, softhearted; accepting, compromising, yielding; responsive, willing; acquiescent, agreeable, amenable, complaisant, compliant, flexible, pliable, pliant
8
having a consistency that does not easily yield to pressure <hard candies> <fell on the hard floor and bruised her arm>
Related Words case-hardened, compacted, compressed, hardened, indurated, stiffened, tempered; close, dense, heavy, thick, thickset; inelastic, inflexible, ramrod, unbending; compressed, condensed; adamantine, rocklike; sturdy, substantial; impenetrable, impermeable, nonporous
9
having been established and usually not subject to change <there isn't always a hard line between right and wrong>
Synonyms certain, determinate, final, firm, flat, frozen, hard, hard-and-fast, inexpugnable, set, settled, stable
Related Words nonadjustable, noncancelable, nonnegotiable, unchangeable; constant, steady, unchanging, uniform, unwavering; definite, exact, explicit, specific; given, stated, stipulated; dependable, good, reliable, responsible, safe, solid, sure, tried, tried-and-true, true, trustworthy, trusty
Near Antonyms adjustable, changeable, negotiable; indefinite, open-ended, unspecified; capricious, changeful, flickery, fluctuating, fluid, inconstant, mercurial, mutable, temperamental, uncertain, unpredictable, unsettled, unstable, unsteady, variable, volatile
10
having or showing deep-seated resentment <maintained hard feelings toward those who had cheated him>
Related Words disaffected, discontented, disgruntled, malcontent; contemptuous, cynical, disdainful, misanthropic, scornful; angry, cruel, harsh, irritated, mad, rough, savage, vehement, vicious, virulent, vitriolic; acid, caustic, cutting, mordant, sarcastic, trenchant; knock-down, drag-out (or knock-down-and-drag-out)
Near Antonyms caring, forgiving, gentle, kind, kindhearted, loving, sweet, sympathetic, tender, warm, warmhearted
Antonyms unbitter
11
sticking to an opinion, purpose, or course of action in spite of reason, arguments, or persuasion <a woman with a hard will who never budged from her chosen path>
Synonyms adamant, adamantine, bullheaded, dogged, hard, hardened, hardheaded, hard-nosed, headstrong, immovable, implacable, inconvincible, inflexible, intransigent, mulish, obdurate, opinionated, ossified, pat, pertinacious, perverse, pigheaded, self-opinionated, self-willed, stiff-necked, stubborn, unbending, uncompromising, unrelenting, unyielding, willful (or wilful)
Related Words anal-retentive, obsessive; wayward, wrongheaded; determined, hell-bent, inexorable, persistent, relentless, resolved, set, single-minded, steadfast, stouthearted, tenacious, unflinching; firm, hard-line, hard-shell (or hard-shelled), iron, severe, stern, strict; hidebound, narrow-minded, rigid; bloody-minded [chiefly British], cantankerous; contrary, cussed; contumacious, disobedient, froward, insubordinate, intractable, recalcitrant, refractory, uncooperative, ungovernable, unmanageable, unruly; defiant, insurgent, mutinous; indomitable, invincible, unconquerable; confirmed, inveterate, unregenerate; demanding, exacting
Near Antonyms docile, obedient, placable, submissive, tractable; accepting, persuadable, receptive, responsive, willing; governable, manageable, reasonable, temperate; slavish, subservient
12
restricted to or based on fact <that newscast is strictly devoted to hard news, as the producers prefer to leave the gossip to others>
Related Words actual, authentic, bona fide, genuine, real, right; documented, established; confirmable, reliable, supportable, sustainable, verifiable; demonstrable, provable; incontestable, incontrovertible, indisputable, irrefutable, undeniable, unquestionable; plain, simple; certain, undoubted
Near Antonyms hypothetical, speculative, theoretical (also theoretic); apocryphal, unauthentic, undocumented; chimerical (also chimeric), fabulous, fanciful, fantastic (also fantastical), imaginary, imagined, invented, legendary, made-up, make-believe, mythical (or mythic), pretend; embroidered, exaggerated; insupportable, unsupportable
Antonyms fictional, fictionalized, fictitious, nondocumentary, nonfactual, nonhistorical, unhistorical
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