What does hard mean?
Definitions for hard
hɑrdhard
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word hard.
Princeton's WordNet
difficult, hardadjective
not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure
"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?"
hardadjective
dispassionate
"took a hard look"; "a hard bargainer";
hardadjective
resisting weight or pressure
hard, knockout, severeadjective
very strong or vigorous
"strong winds"; "a hard left to the chin"; "a knockout punch"; "a severe blow"
arduous, backbreaking, grueling, gruelling, hard, heavy, laborious, operose, punishing, toilsomeadjective
characterized by effort to the point of exhaustion; especially physical effort
"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"
unvoiced, voiceless, surd, hardadjective
produced without vibration of the vocal cords
"unvoiced consonants such as `p' and `k' and `s'"
hard, concentratedadjective
(of light) transmitted directly from a pointed light source
hardadjective
(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"
intemperate, hard, heavyadjective
given to excessive indulgence of bodily appetites especially for intoxicating liquors
"a hard drinker"
hard, strongadjective
being distilled rather than fermented; having a high alcoholic content
"hard liquor"
hard, toughadjective
unfortunate or hard to bear
"had hard luck"; "a tough break"
hardadverb
dried out
"hard dry rolls left over from the day before"
hardadverb
with effort or force or vigor
"the team played hard"; "worked hard all day"; "pressed hard on the lever"; "hit the ball hard"; "slammed the door hard"
hard, firmlyadverb
with firmness
"held hard to the railing"
hardadverb
earnestly or intently
"thought hard about it"; "stared hard at the accused"
hard, severelyadverb
causing great damage or hardship
"industries hit hard by the depression"; "she was severely affected by the bank's failure"
hardadverb
slowly and with difficulty
"prejudices die hard"
heavily, intemperately, hardadverb
indulging excessively
"he drank heavily"
hardadverb
into a solid condition
"concrete that sets hard within a few hours"
hardadverb
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"
hardadverb
with pain or distress or bitterness
"he took the rejection very hard"
hardadverb
to the full extent possible; all the way
"hard alee"; "the ship went hard astern"; "swung the wheel hard left"
Wiktionary
hardnoun
A firm or paved beach or slope convenient for hauling vessels out of the water
hardadverb
With much force or effort.
hardadverb
With difficulty.
His degree was hard earned.
hardadverb
Compactly.
The lake had finally frozen hard.
hardadverb
Near, close.
hardadjective
Resistant to pressure.
hardadjective
Requiring a lot of effort to do or understand
a hard problem
hardadjective
Demanding a lot of effort to endure.
a hard life
hardadjective
Of drink, strong.
hardadjective
Of water, high in dissolved calcium compounds.
hardadjective
Of a ferromagnetic material, having the capability of being a permanent magnet by being a material with high magnetic coercivity (compare soft)
hardadjective
Having a severe property; presenting difficulty. Resistant to pressure. Strong. High in dissolved chemical salts, especially those of calcium. Having the capability of being a permanent magnet by being a material with high magnetic coercivity. Made up of parallel rays, producing clearly defined shadows.
This bread is so stale and hard, I can barely cut it.
hardadjective
Having a severe property; presenting difficulty. Difficult or requiring a lot of effort to do, understand, experience, or deal with. Demanding a lot of effort to endure. Severe, harsh, unfriendly, brutal. Difficult to resist or control; powerful.
a hard problem; a hard question; a hard topic
hardadjective
Unquestionable.
hard evidence
hardadjective
Having a comparatively larger or a ninety-degree angle.
At the intersection, there are two roads going to the left. Take the hard left.
hardadjective
Sexually aroused.
I got so hard watching two hot guys wrestle each other on the beach.
hardadjective
Having muscles that are tightened as a result of intense, regular exercise.
hardadjective
Plosive. Unvoiced Velarized or plain, rather than palatalized
There is a hard c in "clock" and a soft c in "centre".
hardadjective
Having a severe property; presenting a barrier to enjoyment. Rigid in the drawing or distribution of the figures; formal; lacking grace of composition. Having disagreeable and abrupt contrasts in colour or shading.
hardadjective
In a physical form, not digital. Using a manual or physical process, not by means of a software command.
a soft or hard copy ; a digital or hard archive
hardadjective
Far, extreme.
hard right, hard left
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
HARDadjective
Etymology: heard, Saxon; hard, Dutch.
Repose you there, while I to the hard house,
More hard than is the stone whereof ’tis rais’d;
Which even but now, demanding after you,
Denied me to come in. William Shakespeare, King Lear.Some diseases, when they are easy to be cured, are hard to be known. Philip Sidney, b. ii.
The hard causes they brought unto Moses; but every small matter they judged themselves. Ex. xviii. 26.
When hard words, jealousies, and fears,
Set folks together by the ears. Hudibras, p. i.’Tis hard to say if Clymene were mov’d
More by his pray’r, whom she so dearly lov’d,
Or more with fury fir’d. Dryden.As for the hard words, which I was obliged to use, they are either terms of art, or such as I substituted in place of others that were too low. Arbuthnot.
Is any thing too hard for the Lord? Gen. xviii. 14.
Possess
As lords a spacious world, t’ our native heav’n
Little inferior, by my adventure hard
With peril great atchiev’d. John Milton, Par. Lost, b. x.Long is the way
And hard, that out of hell leads up to light:
Our prison strong. John Milton, Paradise Lost, b. ii.He now discerned he was wholly to be on the defensive, and that was like to be a very hard part too. Edward Hyde, b. viii.
Nervous and tendinous parts have worse symptoms, and are harder of cure, than fleshy ones. Richard Wiseman, on Inflammation.
The love and pious duty which you pay,
Have pass’d the perils of so hard a way. John Dryden, Æn.Rachael travelled, and she had hard labour. Gen. xxxv. 16.
Worcester’s horse came but to-day;
And now their pride and mettle is asleep,
Their courage with hard labour tame and dull,
That not a horse is half of himself. William Shakespeare, Henry IV.Continual hard duty, with little fighting, lessened and diminished his army. Edward Hyde, b. viii.
When Sebastian weeps, his tears
Come harder than his blood. John Dryden, Don Sebastian.A man obliged to hard labour is not reduced to the necessity of having twice as much victuals as one under no necessity to work. George Cheyne, Phil. Princ.
The bargain of Julius III. may be accounted a very hard one. Thomas Browne, Vulgar Errours, b. iii. c. 23.
Whom scarce my sheep, and scarce my painful plough,
The needful aids of human life allow;
So wretched is thy son, so hard a mother thou. Dryden.If you thought that hard upon you, we would not refuse you half your time. John Dryden, Juven. Dedication.
It will be a loss to all those, who have their estates in money, of one third of their estates; which will be a very hard case upon a great number of people. John Locke.
No people live with more ease and prosperity than the subjects of little commonwealths; as, on the contrary, there are none who suffer more under the grievances of a hard government than the subjects of little principalities. Addison.
Rough ungovernable passions hurry men on to say or do very hard or offensive things. Francis Atterbury, Sermons.
To find a bill that may bring punishment upon the innocent, will appear very hard. Jonathan Swift.
What, have you given him any hard words of late? William Shakespeare.
As thou lov’st me, do him not that wrong,
To bear a hard opinion of his truth. William Shakespeare.Absalom and Achitophel he thinks is a little hard on his fanatick patrons. John Dryden, Fables, Preface.
Some hard rumours have been transmitted from t’ other side the water, and rumours of the severest kind. Jonathan Swift.
If I by chance succeed
In what I write, and that’s a chance indeed,
Know I am not so stupid, or so hard,
Not to feel praise, or fame’s deserv’d reward. John Dryden, Pers.It is a very hard quality upon our soil or climate, that so excellent a fruit, which prospers among all our neighbours, will not grow here. William Temple.
It is a little hard, that in an affair of the last consequence to the very being of the clergy, this whole reverend body should be the sole persons not consulted. Jonathan Swift.
It is the hardest case in the world, that Steele should take up the reports of his faction, and put them off as additional fears. Jonathan Swift.
If we allow the first couple, at the end of one hundred years, to have left ten pair of breeders, which is no hard supposition; there would arise from these, in fifteen hundred years, a greater number than the earth was capable of. Burnet.
The stag was too hard for the horse, and the horse flies for succour to one that’s too hard for him, and rides the one to death, and outright kills the other. Roger L'Estrange, Fables.
Let them consider the vexation they are treasuring up for themselves, by struggling with a power which will be always too hard for them. Joseph Addison, Freeholder.
A disputant, when he finds that his adversary is too hard for him, with slyness turns the discourse. Isaac Watts.
In making of vinegar, set vessels of wine over against the noon sun, which calleth out the more oily spirits, and leaveth the spirit more sour and hard. Francis Bacon, Natural History.
Others, scrupulously tied to the practice of the ancients, make their figures harder than even the marble itself. Dryden.
His diction is hard, his figures too bold, and his tropes, particularly his metaphors, insufferably strained. Dryden.
You have got a famous victory: there are bonfires decreed; and, if the times had not been hard, my billet should have burnt too. John Dryden, Spanish Fryar.
Hardadverb
Etymology: hardo, very old German.
Hard by was a house of pleasure, built for a Summer retiring place. Philip Sidney.
They doubted a while what it should be, ’till it was cast up even hard before them; at which time they fully saw it was a man. Philip Sidney.
A little lowly hermitage it was,
Down in a dale hard by a forest’s side,
Far from resort of people that did pass
In travel to and fro. Fairy Queen, b. i.Scarce had he said, when hard at hand they spie
That quicksand nigh, with water covered. Fairy Queen.When these marshal the way, hard at hand comes the master and main exercise. William Shakespeare, Othello.
Abimeleck went hard unto the door of the tower, to burn it with fire. Judg. ix. 52.
Hard by a cottage chimney smokes,
From betwixt two aged oaks. John Milton.Geneura rose in his defence,
And pray’d so hard for mercy from the prince,
That to his queen the king th’ offender gave. Dryden.An ant works as hard as a man who should carry a very heavy load every day four leagues. Joseph Addison, Guardian.
Whoever my unknown correspondent be, he presses hard for an answer, and is earnest in that point. Francis Atterbury.
When a man’s servant shall play the cur with him, look you it goes hard. William Shakespeare, Two Gentlemen of Verona.
The question is hard set, and we have reason to doubt. Bro.
A stag, that was hard set by the huntsmen, betook himself to a stall for sanctuary. Roger L'Estrange.
The Philistines followed hard upon Saul. 2 Sa. xxxi. 2.
The wolves scampered away as hard as they could drive. Roger L'Estrange, Fables.
Solid bodies foreshow rain, as boxes and pegs of wood when they draw and wind hard. Francis Bacon, Natural History.
When the North wind blows hard, and it rains sadly, none but fools sit down in it and cry; wise people defend themselves against it. Jeremy Taylor, Rule of living holy.
Wikipedia
Hard
It Ain't Hard to Tell is the second single and last track from American rapper Nas debut album Illmatic. Although the track was technically the second single on the album, it was the first single to be released after the album was pressed in 1994. The first single, "Halftime," was released two years prior to Illmatic's debut. "It Ain't Hard to Tell" was produced by Large Professor, and samples Michael Jackson's 1983 hit single "Human Nature", "N. T." by Kool & the Gang, "Long Red" by Mountain & "Slow Dance" by Stanley Clarke. The single reached #91 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In 1991, Nas recorded a demo tape for Columbia Records, featuring the original version of "It Ain't Hard to Tell" named "Nas Will Prevail". This version is roughly 90 seconds longer, includes longer different verses, and has a more subdued, jazzier beat close to the album version. Pitchfork Media's included the song at number 28 on their Top 200 Tracks of the 90s.
ChatGPT
hard
Hard can be defined as something that requires a significant amount of effort, skill, or physical strength to accomplish. It can also refer to something that is difficult to understand, comprehend, or solve.
Webster Dictionary
Hard
not easily penetrated, cut, or separated into parts; not yielding to pressure; firm; solid; compact; -- applied to material bodies, and opposed to soft; as, hard wood; hard flesh; a hard apple
Hard
difficult, mentally or judicially; not easily apprehended, decided, or resolved; as a hard problem
Hard
difficult to accomplish; full of obstacles; laborious; fatiguing; arduous; as, a hard task; a disease hard to cure
Hard
difficult to resist or control; powerful
Hard
difficult to bear or endure; not easy to put up with or consent to; hence, severe; rigorous; oppressive; distressing; unjust; grasping; as, a hard lot; hard times; hard fare; a hard winter; hard conditions or terms
Hard
difficult to please or influence; stern; unyielding; obdurate; unsympathetic; unfeeling; cruel; as, a hard master; a hard heart; hard words; a hard character
Hard
not easy or agreeable to the taste; stiff; rigid; ungraceful; repelling; as, a hard style
Hard
rough; acid; sour, as liquors; as, hard cider
Hard
abrupt or explosive in utterance; not aspirated, sibilated, or pronounced with a gradual change of the organs from one position to another; -- said of certain consonants, as c in came, and g in go, as distinguished from the same letters in center, general, etc
Hard
wanting softness or smoothness of utterance; harsh; as, a hard tone
Hard
rigid in the drawing or distribution of the figures; formal; lacking grace of composition
Hard
having disagreeable and abrupt contrasts in the coloring or light and shade
Hardadverb
with pressure; with urgency; hence, diligently; earnestly
Hardadverb
with difficulty; as, the vehicle moves hard
Hardadverb
uneasily; vexatiously; slowly
Hardadverb
so as to raise difficulties
Hardadverb
with tension or strain of the powers; violently; with force; tempestuously; vehemently; vigorously; energetically; as, to press, to blow, to rain hard; hence, rapidly; as, to run hard
Hardadverb
close or near
Hardverb
to harden; to make hard
Hardnoun
a ford or passage across a river or swamp
Etymology: [OE. harde, AS. hearde.]
Wikidata
Hard
Hard is the fourth studio album by the English post-punk group Gang of Four. It was originally released in 1983 on Warner Bros. Records and was the first album to not feature original member Hugo Burnham, while Dave Allen had already left before the previous album, Songs of the Free. The album was later reissued as part of a two-CD package along with the band's 1981 album Solid Gold.
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
Hard
härd, adj. not easily penetrated, firm, solid: difficult to understand or accomplish: violent, vehement: rigorous: close, earnest, industrious: coarse, scanty: stingy, niggardly: difficult to bear, painful: unjust: difficult to please: unfeeling: severe: stiff: constrained: intractable, resistant in some use, as water, &c.: strong, spirituous: (of silk) without having the natural gum boiled off: surd or breathed, as opposed to sonant or voiced.—n. a firm beach or foreshore: hard labour.—adv. with urgency, vigour, &c.: earnestly, forcibly: with difficulty: close, near, as in Hard by.—adv. Hard-a-lee, close to the lee-side, &c.—adj. Hard′-and-fast′, rigidly laid down and adhered to.—adv. Hard aport! a command instructing the helmsman to turn the tiller to the left or port side of the ship, thus causing the ship to swerve to the right or starboard.—ns. Hard′-bake, a sweetmeat made of boiled sugar and almonds; Hard′beam, the hornbeam.—adjs. Hard′-billed, having a hard bill or beak—of birds; Hard′-bitt′en, given to hard biting, tough in fight; Hard′-cured, cured thoroughly, as fish, by drying in the sun.—n. Hard′-drink′er, a constant drunkard.—adj. Hard′-earned, earned with toil or difficulty.—v.t. Hard′en, to make hard or harder: to make firm: to strengthen: to confirm in wickedness: to make insensible.—v.i. to become hard or harder, either lit. or fig.—adj. Hard′ened, made hard, unfeeling.—n. Hard′ener.—adj. Hard′-fav′oured, having coarse features.—n. Hard′-fav′ouredness.—adj. Hard′-feat′ured, of hard, coarse, or forbidding features.—n. Hard′-feat′uredness.—adjs. Hard′-fist′ed, having hard or strong fists or hands: close-fisted: niggardly; Hard′-fought, sorely contested; Hard′-gott′en, obtained with difficulty; Hard′-grained, having a close firm grain: uninviting.—n. Hard′-hack, the steeple-bush, an erect shrub of the rose family, with rose-coloured or white flowers.—adjs. Hard′-hand′ed, having hard hands: rough: severe; Hard′-head′ed, shrewd, intelligent; Hard′-heart′ed, having a hard or unfeeling heart: cruel.—adv. Hard′-heart′edly.—n. Hard′-heart′edness.—adj. Hard′ish, somewhat hard.—n. Hard′-lā′bour, labour imposed on certain classes of criminals during their imprisonment.—adv. Hard′ly, with difficulty: scarcely, not quite: severely, harshly.—adj. Hard′-mouthed, having a mouth hard or insensible to the bit: not easily managed.—n.
Dictionary of Nautical Terms
hard
A road-path made through mud for landing at. (See ARD.)
Rap Dictionary
hardadverb
Tough. "Cause I'm too hard to lift" -- Dr. Dre (Let me ride).
hardadverb
Erected. "Ya dicks on hard" -- Easy E (Gimme Dat Nutt)
hardadverb
crack is hard form of cocaine as in coke is soft
Suggested Resources
HARD
What does HARD stand for? -- Explore the various meanings for the HARD acronym on the Abbreviations.com website.
Surnames Frequency by Census Records
HARD
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Hard is ranked #10429 in terms of the most common surnames in America.
The Hard surname appeared 3,085 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 would have the surname Hard.
73.6% or 2,271 total occurrences were White.
15.8% or 488 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
7% or 218 total occurrences were Black.
2% or 64 total occurrences were of two or more races.
0.9% or 28 total occurrences were Asian.
0.5% or 16 total occurrences were American Indian or Alaskan Native.
British National Corpus
Spoken Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'hard' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #642
Written Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'hard' in Written Corpus Frequency: #567
Adverbs Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'hard' in Adverbs Frequency: #133
Adjectives Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'hard' in Adjectives Frequency: #62
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of hard in Chaldean Numerology is: 3
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of hard in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4
Examples of hard in a Sentence
The winter was so hard on everybody and so depressing, i wanted to do something creative to solve a problem we have every year and bring a smile to people's faces.
These sanctions hit the carpet industry tremendously hard.
Going forward it's going to be very hard to achieve the same gains that we've achieved, or anything like them, the U.S. stock market rally could continue but at some stage there's going to be a significant correction, and the more it goes up the more it's going to correct.
The matter will be dealt with internally. i am truly thankful to everyone working hard to keep us safe and I feel ashamed knowing Ive let people down.
It’s hard to believe that this is really happening, i can’t ask for more of a team. I think we are ready — physically, mentally and technically.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
References
Translations for hard
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- صعب, صلبArabic
- ҡыйын, ҡаты, ауырBashkir
- цвёрдыBelarusian
- твърдBulgarian
- complicat, dura, difícil, durCatalan, Valencian
- tvrdý, těžký, obtížnýCzech
- caled, anoddWelsh
- vanskeligDanish
- schwierig, stark, hart, herausfordernd, fix, fest, schwerGerman
- δύσκολοςGreek
- severa, forta, nerefutebla, malfacila, malmolaEsperanto
- duro, difícil, fuerteSpanish
- سخت, پایدار, سفت, مقاوم, قوی, صلب, مشکل, دشوار, صعبPersian
- ankara, kova, vahva, rankka, vaikeaFinnish
- torførur, strævin, ringurFaroese
- dur, dure, difficile, irréfutable, fortFrench
- cruaIrish
- duilich, garg, cruaidh, doirbh, borbScottish Gaelic
- सख़्त, कड़ा, कठिन, कठोरHindi
- difisilHaitian Creole
- nehéz, keményHungarian
- ծանր, կարծր, պինդ, դժվար, բարդArmenian
- forte, dur, difficile, inquestionabile, severInterlingua
- harda, desfacilaIdo
- hörð, hart, erfiður, harðurIcelandic
- cruda, duro, difficileItalian
- 困難, 硬い, 難しいJapanese
- 어렵다Korean
- قایمKurdish
- helleLimburgish, Limburgan, Limburger
- kieta, griežtas, sunkus, rūstus, kietas, sunkiLithuanian
- ciets, stiprs, grūts, smagsLatvian
- tuapaka, tūmārōMāori
- цврст, напорен, тежок, тврд, тврда, жестокMacedonian
- iebesMaltese
- မာBurmese
- vanskeligNorwegian
- hard, moeilijk, zwaar, onweerlegbare, straf, kalkrijk, harde, sterk, onweerlegbaarDutch
- hardNorwegian
- nantłʼahNavajo, Navaho
- ciężki, mocny, twarda, twardy, surowy, niepodważalny, trudnyPolish
- ګران, سخت, کلک, زيږPashto, Pushto
- forte, difícil, duro, inquestionável, severo, bemPortuguese
- rumiQuechua
- deir, dir, dürRomansh
- greu, dur, tare, vârtos, sever, durăRomanian
- кре́пкий, тру́дный, твёрдый, тяжёлый, про́чный, тяже́лыйRussian
- duruSardinian
- тврд, tvrdSerbo-Croatian
- tvrdýSlovak
- tŕdSlovene
- fortëAlbanian
- besvärlig, hård, stark, sträng, obestridlig, svårSwedish
- ngumuSwahili
- கடினம்Tamil
- కఠిన, కఠోర, గట్టిTelugu
- แข็ง, ยากThai
- mahirapTagalog
- sertTurkish
- тве́рдийUkrainian
- کٹھن, سخت, کٹھور, کڑا, مشکلUrdu
- cứng, khó khăn, khó, rắn, khốn khó, khó tính, mạnhVietnamese
- deure, deur, målåjheyWalloon
- שווער, האַרבYiddish
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