" hard "

1: requiring considerable physical or mental effort;

  * e.g., " ... clearing land is hard work "

•  Synonyms : 

•  arduous,

•  Augean,

•  backbreaking,

•  challenging,

•  demanding,

•  difficult,

•  effortful,

•  exacting,

•  formidable,

•  grueling,

•  heavy,

•  hellacious,

•  herculean,

•  killer,

•  laborious,

•  moiling,

•  murderous,

•  pick-and-shovel,

•  rigorous,

•  rough,

•  rugged,

•  severe,

•  stiff,

•  strenuous,

•  sweaty,

•  tall,

•  testing,

•  toilsome,

•  tough,

•  uphill

•  Antonyms : 

•  cheap,

•  easy,

•  effortless,

•  facile,

•  light,

•  mindless,

•  simple,

•  soft,

•  undemanding

2: having or showing a lack of sympathy or tender feelings;

  * e.g., " ... 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,

•  stonyhearted,

•  take-no-prisoners,

•  thick-skinned,

•  uncharitable,

•  unfeeling,

•  unmerciful,

•  unsparing,

•  unsympathetic

•  Antonyms : 

•  charitable,

•  compassionate,

•  humane,

•  kindhearted,

•  kindly,

•  merciful,

•  sensitive,

•  softhearted,

•  sympathetic,

•  tender,

•  tenderhearted,

•  warm,

•  warmhearted

3: able to withstand hardship, strain, or exposure;

  * e.g., " ... they were forced to import sheep of a harder stock, one that could thrive in the harsh climate "

•  Synonyms : 

•  cast-iron,

•  hard-bitten,

•  hardened,

•  hardy,

•  inured,

•  rugged,

•  stout,

•  strong,

•  sturdy,

•  tough,

•  toughened,

•  vigorous

•  Antonyms : 

•  delicate,

•  nonhardy,

•  soft,

•  tender,

•  weak

1: as in severe, strict;

•  Synonyms : 

•  firm,

•  hard-line,

•  iron,

•  severe,

•  stern,

•  strict,

•  determined,

•  hell-bent,

•  inexorable,

•  persistent,

•  relentless,

•  resolved,

•  set,

•  single-minded,

•  steadfast,

•  stouthearted,

•  tenacious,

•  unflinching,

•  hidebound,

•  narrow-minded,

•  rigid,

•  wayward,

•  wrongheaded,

•  bloody-minded,

•  cantankerous,

•  anal-retentive,

•  obsessive,

•  contrary,

•  cussed,

•  adamant,

•  adamantine,

•  bullheaded,

•  dogged,

•  hard,

•  hardened,

•  hardheaded,

•  hard-nosed,

•  headstrong,

•  immovable,

•  implacable,

•  inconvincible,

•  inflexible,

•  intransigent,

•  mulish,

•  obdurate,

•  obstinate,

•  opinionated,

•  ossified,

•  pat,

•  pertinacious,

•  perverse,

•  pigheaded,

•  self-opinionated,

•  self-willed,

•  stiff-necked,

•  stubborn,

•  unbending,

•  uncompromising,

•  unrelenting,

•  unyielding,

•  willful,

•  contumacious,

•  disobedient,

•  froward,

•  insubordinate,

•  intractable,

•  recalcitrant,

•  refractory,

•  uncooperative,

•  ungovernable,

•  unmanageable,

•  unruly,

•  defiant,

•  insurgent,

•  mutinous

•  Antonyms : 

•  acquiescent,

•  agreeable,

•  amenable,

•  compliant,

•  complying,

•  flexible,

•  pliable,

•  pliant,

•  relenting,

•  yielding,

•  docile,

•  obedient,

•  placable,

•  submissive,

•  tractable,

•  accepting,

•  persuadable,

•  receptive,

•  responsive,

•  willing,

•  governable,

•  manageable,

•  reasonable,

•  temperate,

•  slavish,

•  subservient

1: as in tough-minded, unsentimental;

•  Synonyms : 

•  bottom-line,

•  hard,

•  hard-boiled,

•  tough-minded,

•  unromantic,

•  unsentimental,

•  commonsensical,

•  grounded,

•  levelheaded,

•  logical,

•  no-nonsense,

•  rational,

•  reasonable,

•  sane,

•  sensible,

•  sober,

•  sobersided,

•  sound,

•  cynical,

•  disillusioned,

•  misanthropic,

•  pessimistic,

•  idealless,

•  philistine,

•  utilitarian,

•  distrustful,

•  mistrustful,

•  skeptical,

•  suspicious,

•  down-to-earth,

•  earthy,

•  hardheaded,

•  matter-of-fact,

•  practical,

•  pragmatic,

•  realistic

•  Antonyms : 

•  blue-sky,

•  idealistic,

•  impractical,

•  unrealistic,

•  utopian,

•  visionary,

•  fanciful,

•  fantastic,

•  imaginative,

•  romantic,

•  sentimental,

•  cheerful,

•  optimistic,

•  rose-colored,

•  trustful,

•  trusting,

•  unsuspicious,

•  half-baked,

•  illogical,

•  insane,

•  irrational,

•  unreasonable,

•  theoretical

1: having been established and usually not subject to change;

  * e.g., " ... hard-and-fast rules that governed the corporate environment in those days included strictures regarding office dress that were rigidly enforced "

•  Synonyms : 

•  certain,

•  determinate,

•  final,

•  firm,

•  fixed,

•  flat,

•  frozen,

•  hard,

•  inexpugnable,

•  set,

•  settled,

•  stable

•  Antonyms : 

•  alterable,

•  changeable,

•  elastic,

•  flexible,

•  mutable,

•  variable

2: not capable of changing or being changed;

  * e.g., " ... hard-and-fast beliefs that are the rock-solid foundation of their religion "

•  Synonyms : 

•  fixed,

•  immutable,

•  inalterable,

•  incommutable,

•  inflexible,

•  invariable,

•  unalterable,

•  unchangeable

•  Antonyms : 

• (N/A)

1: with great effort or determination;

  * e.g., " ... we took a much-needed break after working hard all week "

•  Synonyms : 

•  amain,

•  arduously,

•  assiduously,

•  determinedly,

•  diligently,

•  doggedly,

•  hardly,

•  industriously,

•  intensely,

•  intensively,

•  intently,

•  laboriously,

•  mightily,

•  purposefully,

•  resolutely,

•  sedulously,

•  slavishly,

•  strenuously

•  Antonyms : 

•  blissfully,

•  gladly,

•  happily,

•  joyfully,

•  joyously

2: with feelings of bitterness or grief;

  * e.g., " ... took the news of their grandfather's death hard "

•  Synonyms : 

•  agonizingly,

•  bitterly,

•  dolefully,

•  dolorously,

•  grievously,

•  hardly,

•  inconsolably,

•  lugubriously,

•  mournfully,

•  painfully,

•  plaintively,

•  regretfully,

•  resentfully,

•  ruefully,

•  sadly,

•  sorely,

•  sorrowfully,

•  unhappily,

•  wailfully,

•  woefully,

•  wretchedly

•  Antonyms : 

•  feebly,

•  gently,

•  softly,

•  weakly

3: in a vigorous and forceful manner;

  * e.g., " ... hit the ball hard, causing it to soar out of bounds "

•  Synonyms : 

•  dynamically,

•  energetically,

•  explosively,

•  firmly,

•  forcefully,

•  forcibly,

•  mightily,

•  muscularly,

•  powerfully,

•  roundly,

•  stiffly,

•  stoutly,

•  strenuously,

•  strongly,

•  sturdily,

•  vigorously

•  Antonyms : 

•  clemently,

•  gently,

•  leniently,

•  lightly,

•  mildly,

•  softly

1: as in ruthlessly, mercilessly;

•  Synonyms : 

•  callously,

•  cold-bloodedly,

•  heartlessly,

•  inhumanely,

•  inhumanly,

•  insensately,

•  insensitively,

•  mercilessly,

•  obdurately,

•  pitilessly,

•  ruthlessly,

•  tyrannically,

•  uncharitably,

•  unfeelingly,

•  unmercifully,

•  unsparingly,

•  brutally,

•  hard,

•  hardly,

•  harshly,

•  ill,

•  oppressively,

•  roughly,

•  severely,

•  sternly,

•  stiffly,

•  abusively,

•  brutishly,

•  savagely,

•  viciously,

•  aggressively,

•  assertively,

•  decidedly,

•  determinedly,

•  firmly,

•  grimly,

•  gruffly,

•  resolutely,

•  strongly,

•  toughly

•  Antonyms : 

•  clemently,

•  gently,

•  leniently,

•  lightly,

•  mildly,

•  softly,

•  benevolently,

•  benignantly,

•  considerately,

•  cordially,

•  graciously,

•  kindly,

•  lovingly,

•  tenderly,

•  charitably,

•  compassionately,

•  humanely,

•  mercifully,

•  softheartedly,

•  sympathetically,

•  tolerantly,

•  understandingly

1: as in halfheartedness, obduracy;

•  Synonyms : 

•  bloodlessness,

•  callosity,

•  callousness,

•  coldness,

•  coolness,

•  halfheartedness,

•  hardness,

•  heartlessness,

•  imperturbability,

•  insensitivity,

•  obduracy,

•  affectlessness,

•  apathy,

•  emotionlessness,

•  impassiveness,

•  impassivity,

•  insensibility,

•  numbness,

•  phlegm,

•  blankness,

•  deadness,

•  emptiness,

•  vacancy,

•  aloofness,

•  detachment,

•  indifference,

•  unconcern,

•  stiffness,

•  woodenness

•  Antonyms : 

•  emotion,

•  feeling,

•  sensibility,

•  compassion,

•  empathy,

•  pity,

•  sympathy,

•  receptiveness,

•  receptivity,

•  responsiveness,

•  sensitivity,

•  solicitude,

•  tenderness,

•  understanding,

•  warmth,

•  hand-wringing,

•  histrionics,

•  hysteria,

•  hysterics,

•  melodrama,

•  vehemence

1: as in cowboy hat, baseball cap;

•  Synonyms : 

•  baseball cap,

•  beret,

•  billycock,

•  biretta,

•  boater,

•  bonnet,

•  bowler,

•  calotte,

•  capuche,

•  casque,

•  castor,

•  cloche,

•  cocked hat,

•  cowboy hat,

•  cowl,

•  derby,

•  fedora,

•  fez,

•  garrison cap,

•  helm,

•  helmet,

•  high hat,

•  homburg,

•  hood,

•  kepi,

•  kufi,

•  leghorn,

•  miter,

•  nightcap,

•  opera hat,

•  overseas cap,

•  panama,

•  picture hat,

•  pillbox,

•  plug hat,

•  porkpie hat,

•  service cap,

•  shako,

•  silk hat,

•  skimmer,

•  skullcap,

•  sombrero,

•  sou'wester,

•  Stetson,

•  stocking cap,

•  stovepipe,

•  sunbonnet,

•  tam,

•  tam-o'-shanter,

•  ten-gallon hat,

•  top hat,

•  topper,

•  toque,

•  tricorne,

•  turban,

•  zucchetto,

•  cap,

•  chapeau,

•  hat,

•  headdress,

•  headgear,

•  headpiece,

•  lid,

•  warbonnet

•  Antonyms : 

• (N/A)

1: as in cowboy hats, baseball caps;

•  Synonyms : 

•  baseball caps,

•  berets,

•  billycocks,

•  birettas,

•  boaters,

•  bonnets,

•  bowlers,

•  calottes,

•  capuches,

•  casques,

•  castors,

•  cloches,

•  cocked hats,

•  cowboy hats,

•  cowls,

•  derbies,

•  fedoras,

•  fezzes,

•  garrison caps,

•  helmets,

•  helms,

•  high hats,

•  homburgs,

•  hoods,

•  kepis,

•  kufis,

•  leghorns,

•  miters,

•  nightcaps,

•  opera hats,

•  overseas caps,

•  panamas,

•  picture hats,

•  pillboxes,

•  plug hats,

•  porkpie hats,

•  service caps,

•  shakos,

•  silk hats,

•  skimmers,

•  skullcaps,

•  sombreros,

•  sou'westers,

•  Stetsons,

•  stocking caps,

•  stovepipes,

•  sunbonnets,

•  tam-o'-shanters,

•  tams,

•  ten-gallon hats,

•  top hats,

•  toppers,

•  toques,

•  tricornes,

•  turbans,

•  zucchettos,

•  caps,

•  chapeaus,

•  hats,

•  headdresses,

•  headgears,

•  headpieces,

•  lids,

•  warbonnets

•  Antonyms : 

• (N/A)

1: as in durables, domestics;

•  Synonyms : 

•  domestics,

•  durables,

•  job lot,

•  inventory,

•  staples,

•  stock,

•  stuff,

•  supply,

•  export,

•  import,

•  line,

•  commodity,

•  goods,

•  merchandise,

•  wares

•  Antonyms : 

• (N/A)