hard
1. not easy;
requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure (Freq. 37)
- a difficult task
- nesting places on the cliffs are difficult of access
- difficult times
- why is it so hard for you to keep a secret?
• Syn:
difficult
• Ant:
easy (for: difficult)
• Similar to:
ambitious, challenging, arduous, awkward, embarrassing,
sticky, unenviable, baffling, elusive, knotty, problematic,
problematical, tough, catchy, tricky, delicate, ticklish,
touchy, fractious, hard-fought, herculean, nasty, tight,
rocky, rough, rugged, serious, tall, thorny,
troublesome, trying, vexed
• See Also:
demanding, effortful
• Derivationally related forms:
hardness, difficultness (for: difficult)
• Attrubites:
difficulty, difficultness
2. dispassionate (Freq. 20)
- took a hard look
- a hard bargainer
• Ant:
soft
• Similar to:
calculating, calculative, conniving, scheming, shrewd,
case-hardened, hardened, hard-boiled, steely
• See Also:
difficult, insensitive, merciless, unmerciful, tough
• Derivationally related forms:
hardness
3. resisting weight or pressure (Freq. 15)
• Ant:
soft
• Similar to:
adamantine, al dente, corneous, hornlike, horny,
tumid, erect, firm, solid, granitic, granitelike,
rocklike, stony, hardened, set, woody, petrous,
stonelike, semihard, steely, unyielding
• Derivationally related forms:
hardness
• Attrubites:
hardness
4. very strong or vigorous (Freq. 5)
- strong winds
- a hard left to the chin
- a knockout punch
- a severe blow
• Syn:
knockout, severe
• Similar to:
strong
• Derivationally related forms:
severeness (for: severe)
5. characterized by effort to the point of exhaustion;
especially physical effort (Freq. 3)
- worked their arduous way up the mining valley
- a grueling campaign
- hard labor
- heavy work
- heavy going
- spent many laborious hours on the project
- set a punishing pace
• Syn:
arduous, backbreaking, grueling, gruelling, heavy,
laborious, operose, punishing, toilsome
• Similar to:
effortful
• Derivationally related forms:
toilsomeness (for: toilsome), operoseness (for: operose), labor (for: laborious), laboriousness (for: laborious), heaviness (for: heavy), hardness, arduousness (for: arduous)
6. produced without vibration of the vocal cords
- unvoiced consonants such as 'p' and 'k' and 's'
• Syn:
unvoiced, voiceless, surd
• Ant:
voiced (for: unvoiced)
• Similar to:
whispered
• Derivationally related forms:
voicelessness (for: voiceless)
7. (of light) transmitted directly from a pointed light source
• Syn:
concentrated
• Ant:
soft
8. (of speech sounds);
produced with the back of the tongue raised toward or touching the velum
- Russian distinguished between hard consonants and palatalized or soft consonants
• Ant:
soft
• Similar to:
velar
9. given to excessive indulgence of bodily appetites especially for intoxicating liquors
- a hard drinker
• Syn:
intemperate, heavy
• Similar to:
indulgent
• Derivationally related forms:
intemperateness (for: intemperate)
10. being distilled rather than fermented;
having a high alcoholic content
- hard liquor
• Syn:
strong
• Similar to:
alcoholic
11. unfortunate or hard to bear
- had hard luck
- a tough break
• Syn:
tough
• Similar to:
bad
• Derivationally related forms:
hardness
12. dried out
- hard dry rolls left over from the day before
• Similar to:
stale
1. with effort or force or vigor (Freq. 12)
- the team played hard
- worked hard all day
- pressed hard on the lever
- hit the ball hard
- slammed the door hard
2. with firmness (Freq. 3)
- held hard to the railing
• Syn:
firmly
3. earnestly or intently (Freq. 1)
- thought hard about it
- stared hard at the accused
4. causing great damage or hardship (Freq. 1)
- industries hit hard by the depression
- she was severely affected by the bank's failure
• Syn:
severely
• Derived from adjective:
severe (for: severely)
5. slowly and with difficulty (Freq. 1)
- prejudices die hard
6. indulging excessively
- he drank heavily
• Syn:
heavily, intemperately
• Ant:
lightly (for: heavily)
• Derived from adjective:
intemperate (for: intemperately)
7. into a solid condition
- concrete that sets hard within a few hours
• Derived from adjective:
hardened
8. very near or close in space or time
- it stands hard by the railroad tracks
- they were hard on his heels
- a strike followed hard upon the plant's opening
9. with pain or distress or bitterness
- he took the rejection very hard
10. to the full extent possible;
all the way
- hard alee
- the ship went hard astern
- swung the wheel hard left
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