hard

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See also: Hard, härd, and hård

English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English hard, from Old English heard, from Proto-Germanic *harduz, from Proto-Indo-European *kort-ús, from *kret- (“strong, powerful”). Cognate with German hart, Swedish hård, Ancient Greek κρατύς (kratús), Sanskrit क्रतु (krátu), Avestan 𐬑𐬭𐬀𐬙𐬎‎‎ (xratu‎).

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

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.
  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 guys 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. (arts) 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.

Synonyms[edit]

Antonyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

  • Pages starting with "hard".

    • Related terms[edit]

    Translations[edit]

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
    Translations to be checked

    Adverb[edit]

    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.
      • (Can we date this quote?) Dryden
        prayed so hard for mercy from the prince
      • (Can we date this quote?) 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.
    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.

    Derived terms[edit]

    Translations[edit]

    Noun[edit]

    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[edit]

    Dutch[edit]

    Pronunciation[edit]

    Etymology 1[edit]

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

    Adjective[edit]

    hard (comparative harder, superlative hardst)

    1. hard, strong
      Antonym: zacht
    2. (economics, of a currency) strong, not easily devalued
    3. unquestionable, uncontestable
      harde feiten
      hard facts
    4. heartless, unsympathetic (of a person)
      Antonym: zacht
    5. hard, difficult
      een harde strijd
      a difficult fight
    6. harsh, heavy
      harde straffen
      harsh punishments
      een harde regen
      heavy rain
    7. hard, rich in calcium (of water)
      Antonym: zacht
    8. loud (of sound)
      Synonym: luid
      Antonym: zacht
    Inflection[edit]
    Inflection of hard
    uninflected hard
    inflected harde
    comparative harder
    positive comparative superlative
    predicative/adverbial hard harder het hardst
    het hardste
    indefinite m./f. sing. harde hardere hardste
    n. sing. hard harder hardste
    plural harde hardere hardste
    definite harde hardere hardste
    partitive hards harders —
    Derived terms[edit]

    Etymology 2[edit]

    EB1911 - Volume 01 - Page 001 - 1.svg This entry lacks etymological information. If you are familiar with the origin of this term, please add it to the page per etymology instructions. You can also discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.

    Adverb[edit]

    hard

    1. (speed) fast, swiftly
      Ik heb een bekeuring gekregen omdat ik te hard heb gereden.
      I got a ticket because I drove too fast.
    2. very
    3. loudly

    Etymology 3[edit]

    See the etymology of the main entry.

    Verb[edit]

    hard

    1. first-person singular present indicative of harden
    2. imperative of harden

    French[edit]

    Etymology[edit]

    Borrowed from English hard.

    Pronunciation[edit]

    Adjective[edit]

    hard (plural hards)

    1. (of pornography) hardcore
      Des photos hards.
      Hardcore pictures.

    Noun[edit]

    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)
    2. hard rock
      • 2004, Thomas Mansier, Identité du rock et presse spécialisée. Évolution d'une culture et de son discours critique dans les magazines français des années 90, page 98.
        Le hard semble ainsi capable de remplir le contrat originel du rock.
        (please add an English translation of this quote)
      • 2014, Christian Eudeline, "Uriah Heep. Look At Yourself", in Du hard rock au métal. Les 100 albums cultes, Gründ (publ.).
        Au croisement du hard et du prog, Uriah Heep […] enregistre lá son meilleur disque, pourtant, leurs paroles pseudo-lyriques et leurs envolées déplaisaient.
        (please add an English translation of this quote)

    Irish[edit]

    Pronunciation[edit]

    Adjective[edit]

    hard

    1. h-prothesized form of ard

    Norwegian Bokmål[edit]

    Etymology[edit]

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

    Adjective[edit]

    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

    Derived terms[edit]

    Related terms[edit]

    References[edit]

    Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]

    Etymology[edit]

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

    Pronunciation[edit]

    Adjective[edit]

    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

    Derived terms[edit]

    References[edit]

    Old Saxon[edit]

    Etymology[edit]

    From Proto-Germanic *harduz.

    Adjective[edit]

    hard (comparative hardiro, superlative hardist)

    1. hard

    Declension[edit]

    Positive forms of hard
    Strong declension
    gender masculine neuter feminine
    case singular plural singular plural singular plural
    nominative hard harde hard hardu hard harde
    accusative hardana harde harda hardu hard harde
    genitive hardes hardarō hardaro hardarō hardes hardarō
    dative hardumu hardum hardaro hardum hardumu hardum
    Weak declension
    gender masculine neuter feminine
    case singular plural singular plural singular plural
    nominative hardo hardu harda hardu harda hardu
    accusative hardun hardun hardun hardun harda hardun
    genitive hardun hardonō hardun hardonō hardun hardonō
    dative hardun hardum hardun hardum hardun hardum


    Comparative forms of hard (weak only)
    Weak declension
    gender masculine neuter feminine
    case singular plural singular plural singular plural
    nominative hardiro hardiru hardira hardiru hardira hardiru
    accusative hardirun hardirun hardirun hardirun hardira hardirun
    genitive hardirun hardironō hardirun hardironō hardirun hardironō
    dative hardirun hardirum hardirun hardirum hardirun hardirum


    Superlative forms of hard
    Strong declension
    gender masculine neuter feminine
    case singular plural singular plural singular plural
    nominative hardist hardiste hardist hardistu hardist hardiste
    accusative hardistana hardiste hardista hardistu hardist hardiste
    genitive hardistes hardistarō hardistaro hardistarō hardistes hardistarō
    dative hardistumu hardistum hardistaro hardistum hardistumu hardistum
    Weak declension
    gender masculine neuter feminine
    case singular plural singular plural singular plural
    nominative hardisto hardistu hardista hardistu hardista hardistu
    accusative hardistun hardistun hardistun hardistun hardista hardistun
    genitive hardistun hardistonō hardistun hardistonō hardistun hardistonō
    dative hardistun hardistum hardistun hardistum hardistun hardistum


    Derived terms[edit]

    Descendants[edit]

    Spanish[edit]

    Adjective[edit]

    hard (invariable)

    1. hard, heavy, hardcore
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