hard

Etymology

From Middle English hard, from Old English heard, from Proto-Germanic *harduz.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: häd, IPA^(key): /hɑːd/
• (General American) enPR: härd, IPA^(key): /hɑɹd/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)d
• Homophone: heart (in some dialects)

Adjective

hard (comparative harder, superlative hardest)

1. (of material or fluid) Having a severe property; presenting difficulty.
   1. Resistant to pressure.

      This bread is so stale and hard, I can barely cut it.

   2. (of drink or drugs) Strong.
   3. (of water) High in dissolved chemical salts, especially those of calcium.
   4. (physics, of a ferromagnetic material) Having the capability of being a permanent magnet by being a material with high magnetic coercivity (compare soft).
2. (personal or social) Having a severe property; presenting difficulty.
   1. Requiring a lot of effort to do or understand.

      a hard problem

      • 1988, An Oracle, Edmund White

        Ray found it hard to imagine having accumulated so many mannerisms before the dawn of sex, of the sexual need to please, of the staginess sex encourages or the tightly capped wells of poisoned sexual desire the disappointed must stand guard over.

      • 2013 July 26, Nick Miroff, “Mexico gets a taste for eating insects …”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 7, page 32:

        The San Juan market is Mexico City's most famous deli of exotic meats, where an adventurous shopper can hunt down hard-to-find critters such as ostrich, wild boar and crocodile.

   2. Demanding a lot of effort to endure.

      a hard life

   3. Severe, harsh, unfriendly, brutal.

      a hard master;  a hard heart;  hard words;  a hard character

      don't be so hard on yourself

   4. (dated) Difficult to resist or control; powerful.
      • Roger L'Estrange (1616-1704)

        The stag was too hard for the horse.

      • Joseph Addison (1672-1719)

        a power which will be always too hard for them

3. Unquestionable.

   hard evidence

   • 2011 December 19, Kerry Brown, “Kim Jong-il obituary”, in The Guardian:

     Unsurprisingly for a man who went into mourning for three years after the death in 1994 of his own father, the legendary leader Kim Il-sung, and who in the first 30 years of his political career made no public statements, even to his own people, Kim's career is riddled with claims, counter claims, speculation, and contradiction. There are few hard facts about his birth and early years.

4. (of a road intersection) Having a comparatively larger or a ninety-degree angle.

   At the intersection, there are two roads going to the left. Take the hard left.

5. (slang, vulgar, of a male) Sexually aroused.

   I got so hard watching two hot girls wrestle each other on the beach.

6. (bodybuilding) Having muscles that are tightened as a result of intense, regular exercise.
7. (phonetics, not comparable)
   1. Plosive.

      There is a hard c in "clock" and a soft c in "centre".

   2. Unvoiced

      Hard k, t, s, ch, as distinguished from soft, g, d, z, j.

   3. Velarized or plain, rather than palatalized

      The letter ж (ž) in Russian is always hard.

8. (art) Having a severe property; presenting a barrier to enjoyment.
   1. Rigid in the drawing or distribution of the figures; formal; lacking grace of composition.
   2. Having disagreeable and abrupt contrasts in colour or shading.
9. (not comparable) In the form of a hard copy.

   We need both a digital archive and a hard archive.

Adverb

hard (comparative harder, superlative hardest)

1. (manner) With much force or effort.

   He hit the puck hard up the ice.

   They worked hard all week.

   At the intersection, bear hard left.

   The recession hit them especially hard.

   Think hard about your choices.

   • Dryden

     prayed so hard for mercy from the prince

   • Shakespeare

     My father / Is hard at study; pray now, rest yourself.

   • 1985, Michael A. Arbib, In search of the person: philosophical explorations in cognitive science, page 119:

     What, then, of the voluntarist's sense that one often has to think long and hard before making agonizing choices?

2. (manner) With difficulty.

   His degree was hard earned.

   The vehicle moves hard.

3. (obsolete) So as to raise difficulties.
   • Sir Thomas Browne

     The question is hard set.

4. (manner) Compactly.

   The lake had finally frozen hard.

5. (now archaic) Near, close.
   • Bible, Acts xviii. 7

     whose house joined hard to the synagogue

   • 1999, George RR Martin, A Clash of Kings, Bantam 2011, page 418:

     It was another long day's march before they glimpsed the towers of Harrenhal in the distance, hard beside the blue waters of the lake.

Noun

hard (countable and uncountable, plural hards)

1. (countable, nautical) A firm or paved beach or slope convenient for hauling vessels out of the water.
   • 1952, Edward John Barrington Douglas-Scott-Montagu Baron Montagu, ‎Beaulieu, the Abbey, Palace House, and Buckler's Hard (page 36)

     The Monastery's ironworks at Sowley were renowned for centuries but declined with the passing of the 'wooden walls' at Buckler's Hard — a great number of these ships having been built with timber from the Beaulieu Woods […]

2. (uncountable, drugs, colloquial, slang) crack cocaine.
3. (motorsports) Ellipsis of hard tyre (A tyre whose compound is softer than superhards, and harder than mediums.)

Anagrams

• Dhar

Pronunciation

• hard

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑrt
• Homophone: hart

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch hart, from Old Dutch hart, from Proto-Germanic *harduz.

Etymology 2

Etymology 3

See etymology on the main entry.

Etymology

Borrowed from English hard.

Pronunciation

• ^{(aspirated h)} IPA^(key): /aʁd/

Adjective

hard (plural hards)

1. (of pornography) hardcore

   Des photos hards.

   Hardcore pictures.

Noun

hard m (plural hards)

1. hardcore pornography

   Le Journal du hard est une émission de Canal + dédiée au cinéma pornographique.

   (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [haːɾˠd̪ˠ]

Adjective

hard

1. h-prothesized form of ard

Etymology

From Old Norse harðr, from Proto-Germanic *harduz.

Adjective

hard (neuter singular hardt, definite singular and plural harde, comparative hardere, indefinite superlative hardest, definite superlative hardeste)

1. hard (not soft)
2. hard, stern, severe
3. hardy

References

• “hard” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Etymology

From Old Norse harðr, from Proto-Germanic *harduz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hɑːr/ (example of pronunciation)
• Homophone: har

Adjective

hard (masculine and feminine hard, neuter hardt, definite singular and plural harde, comparative hardare, indefinite superlative hardast, definite superlative hardaste)

1. hard
2. hard, stern, severe
3. hardy

References

• “hard” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *harduz.

Adjective

hard (comparative hardiro, superlative hardist)

1. hard

Adjective

hard (invariable)

1. hard, heavy, hardcore