adj

hard

hahd

adj

Solid and firm; not easily broken, cut, or dented.

"Diamonds are famously the hardest naturally occurring material."

"The bread had gone hard after sitting out overnight."

Difficult; requiring a lot of effort, skill, or endurance.

"The exam was much harder than anyone expected."

"It was hard to say goodbye after so many years together."

Severe, harsh, or lacking sympathy.

"He took a hard line with anyone who broke the rules."

adv

With a lot of force or effort.

"She worked hard all summer to save enough for college."

How to Use Hard

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishFirm and solid, or, more often, difficult and demanding effort.

Common mistake

"Hardly" is not the adverb form of "hard" in the sense of effort — "hardly" means "barely." "She worked hard" (a lot of effort) is very different from "She hardly worked" (she did almost nothing).

Easily confused with

hardly →

Common pairings

a hard decision work hard hard to say a hard worker try hard

Word Forms

harder comparative, more hard comparative, harder comparative, harded past tense, hards plural, Hards plural, hards singular, hardest superlative, most hard superlative, hardest superlative

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Fill the Gap

Can you complete this real example?

The bread had gone _____ after sitting out overnight.

Etymology

From Old English heard, from a very old Germanic and Indo-European root meaning "strong" or "powerful" — the same root behind the Greek word for "strength."

Synonyms

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adamantine concrete granitic firm grim inflexible lithic resistant rigid robust solid stiff

Antonyms

cushiony flexible soft moldable spongy tender yielding

Related Words

kill concrete angry good loose drunk enterprise dupe

Rhymes for hard

ard card yard ward bard lard board heard beard guard award chard

See all rhymes for hard →

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