Englishhard
adjective
1 the ground was as hard as a rock:
firm, solid, dense, rigid, stiff, resistant, unbreakable, inflexible, unpliable, impenetrable, unyielding, solidified, hardened, compact, compacted, steely, tough, strong, stony, rocklike, flinty, close-packed, compressed, as hard as iron, as hard as stone;
frozen;
rare adamantine, unmalleable, renitent.
▷antonyms soft.
2 it was hard physical work:
arduous, strenuous, tiring, fatiguing, exhausting, wearying, back-breaking, grueling, heavy, laborious;
difficult, taxing, exacting, testing, challenging, demanding, punishing, tough, formidable, onerous, rigorous, uphill, Herculean;
informal murderous, killing, hellish;
British, informal knackering;
rare toilsome, exigent.
▷antonyms easy.
3 hard workers:
diligent, hard-working, industrious, sedulous, assiduous, conscientious, energetic, keen, enthusiastic, zealous, earnest, persevering, persistent, unflagging, untiring, indefatigable;
studious.
▷antonyms lazy.
4 we have a hard problem to solve:
difficult, puzzling, perplexing, baffling, bewildering, mystifying, knotty, thorny, ticklish, problematic, enigmatic, complicated, complex, intricate, involved, tangled, insoluble, unfathomable, impenetrable, incomprehensible, unanswerable;
informal spiny, mind-bending;
North American, informal gnarly;
rare insolvable, wildering.
▷antonyms simple.
5 times are hard and jobs are scarce:
harsh, grim, difficult, bad, bleak, dire, tough, austere, unpleasant, disagreeable, uncomfortable, intolerable, unendurable, unbearable, insupportable;
straitened, spartan, dark, severe, distressing, painful, awful.
▷antonyms comfortable; luxurious.
6 he can be such a hard taskmaster:
strict, harsh, firm, severe, stern, tough, rigorous, demanding, exacting, unkind, unfriendly, unsympathetic, cold, heartless, hard-hearted, cold-hearted, unfeeling, intransigent, unbending, uncompromising, inflexible, intolerant, implacable, stubborn, obdurate, unyielding, unrelenting, unsparing, lacking compassion, grim, ruthless, merciless, oppressive, tyrannical, pitiless, callous, cruel, vicious, unjust, unfair;
standing no nonsense, ruling with a rod of iron;
informal hard-boiled;
North American, informal badass;
Australian, New Zealand, informal solid.
▷antonyms easygoing; kind.
7 a hard winter:
bitterly cold, cold, bitter, harsh, severe, extreme, bleak, freezing, icy, icy-cold, arctic, polar, Siberian, glacial;
British, informal Baltic.
▷antonyms mild.
8 a hard blow to the head:
forceful, heavy, strong, sharp, smart, violent, powerful, vigorous, mighty, hefty, tremendous.
▷antonyms light.
9 hard facts about the underclass are maddeningly elusive:
reliable, definite, true, actual, confirmed, undeniable, indisputable, unquestionable, verifiable;
plain, cold, bare, bold, harsh, unvarnished, unembellished.
▷antonyms unverified.
10 they do not touch hard liquor:
alcoholic, strong, intoxicating, inebriating, stiff, potent, spirituous, vinous, intoxicant.
▷antonyms nonalcoholic; low-alcohol.
11 hard drugs:
addictive, habit-forming, causing dependency;
strong, harmful, narcotic.
▷antonyms soft.
□ hard and fast□ hard feelings
there are no hard-and-fast rules about this:
definite, fixed, set, strict, rigid, binding, stringent, rigorous, clear-cut, cast-iron, established, inflexible, immutable, unalterable, invariable, unvarying, unchangeable, unchanging, incontestable, incontrovertible, uncompromising.
▷antonyms flexible.
adverb
1 George pushed her hard away from him:
forcefully, forcibly, fiercely, roughly, powerfully, strongly, strenuously, heavily, sharply, vigorously, intensely, energetically, with all one's might, with might and main, with vigor, with force, with great effort.
▷antonyms gently.
2 they work hard at school:
diligently, industriously, assiduously, conscientiously, sedulously, busily, intensely, enthusiastically, energetically, earnestly, persistently, doggedly, steadily, indefatigably, untiringly, all out, with application, with perseverance;
informal like mad, like crazy, like billy-o.
▷antonyms lackadaisically.
3 this prosperity has been hard won:
with difficulty, with effort, after a struggle, painfully, arduously, laboriously.
▷antonyms easily.
4 her death hit him hard:
severely, badly, intensely, harshly, acutely, deeply, keenly, seriously, profoundly, violently, forcefully, grievously, gravely.
▷antonyms slightly.
5 it was raining hard:
heavily, strongly, intensely, in torrents, in sheets, cats and dogs;
steadily;
British, informal buckets, bucketloads, stair rods;
North American, informal pitchforks.
▷antonyms lightly.
6 my mother looked hard at me:
closely, attentively, intently, critically, carefully, keenly, searchingly, earnestly, sharply, scrutinizingly.
▷antonyms casually.
□ hard by□ hard on (also hard upon) □ hard up
a little shop, hard by the St. Paul Hotel:
close to, right by, close by, beside, near, near to, nearby, not far from, a short distance from, a step away from, a stone's throw from, on the doorstep of, in the vicinity of, in the neighborhood of, around the corner from, within easy reach of, adjacent to;
informal within spitting distance of, within sniffing distance of, a hop, skip, and a jump away from.
▷antonyms far from.
informal
I'm too hard up to buy fancy clothes:
poor, short of money, short of cash, impoverished, impecunious, in financial difficulties, financially embarrassed, financially distressed, in reduced circumstances, in straitened circumstances, unable to make ends meet;
penniless, moneyless, destitute, poverty-stricken, bankrupt, in the red, without a sou, without means of support;
informal broke, flat broke, bust;
British, informal stony broke, skint, cleaned out, strapped for cash, on one's uppers, not having two pennies/farthings to rub together, in Queer Street, on one's beam-ends, without a shot in one's locker, without a brass farthing;
North American, informal stone broke, without a red cent.
▷antonyms rich.
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related prefix, as in sclerosis, scleroderma | |