Synonyms for hard

Synonyms for (adj) hard

Synonyms: difficult, hard

Definition: not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure

Usage: 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?

Similar words: challenging, ambitious

Definition: requiring full use of your abilities or resources

Usage: ambitious schedule; performed the most challenging task without a mistake


Similar words: arduous

Definition: difficult to accomplish; demanding considerable mental effort and skill

Usage: the arduous work of preparing a dictionary


Similar words: awkward, unenviable, sticky, embarrassing

Definition: hard to deal with; especially causing pain or embarrassment

Usage: awkward (or embarrassing or difficult) moments in the discussion; an awkward pause followed his remark; a sticky question; in the unenviable position of resorting to an act he had planned to save for the climax of the campaign


Similar words: elusive, tough, baffling, problematic, problematical, knotty

Definition: making great mental demands; hard to comprehend or solve or believe

Usage: a baffling problem; I faced the knotty problem of what to have for breakfast; a problematic situation at home


Similar words: tricky, catchy

Definition: having concealed difficulty

Usage: a catchy question; a tricky recipe to follow


Similar words: delicate, touchy, ticklish

Definition: difficult to handle; requiring great tact

Usage: delicate negotiations with the big powers; hesitates to be explicit on so ticklish a matter; a touchy subject


Similar words: fractious

Definition: unpredictably difficult in operation; likely to be troublesome

Usage: rockets were much too fractious to be tested near thickly populated areas; fractious components of a communication system


Similar words: hard-fought

Definition: requiring great effort

Usage: a hard-fought primary


Similar words: herculean

Definition: extremely difficult; requiring the strength of a Hercules

Usage: a herculean task


Similar words: nasty, tight

Definition: exasperatingly difficult to handle or circumvent

Usage: a nasty problem; a good man to have on your side in a tight situation


Similar words: rough, rocky

Definition: full of hardship or trials

Usage: the rocky road to success; they were having a rough time


Similar words: tough, rugged

Definition: very difficult; severely testing stamina or resolution

Usage: a rugged competitive examination; the rugged conditions of frontier life; the competition was tough; it's a tough life; it was a tough job


Similar words: serious

Definition: requiring effort or concentration; complex and not easy to answer or solve

Usage: raised serious objections to the proposal; the plan has a serious flaw


Similar words: tall

Definition: impressively difficult

Usage: a tall order


Similar words: thorny

Definition: bristling with perplexities

Usage: the thorny question of states' rights


Similar words: troublesome

Definition: difficult to deal with

Usage: a troublesome infection; a troublesome situation


Similar words: trying

Definition: hard to endure

Usage: fell upon trying times


Similar words: vexed

Definition: causing difficulty in finding an answer or solution; much disputed

Usage: the vexed issue of priorities; we live in vexed and troubled times


Synonyms: heavy, grueling, gruelling, hard, laborious, backbreaking, arduous, toilsome, operose, punishing

Definition: characterized by effort to the point of exhaustion; especially physical effort

Usage: 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

Similar words: effortful

Definition: requiring great physical effort


Synonyms: hard

Definition: dried out

Usage: hard dry rolls left over from the day before

Similar words: stale

Definition: lacking freshness, palatability, or showing deterioration from age

Usage: stale bread; the beer was stale


Synonyms: hard, tough

Definition: unfortunate or hard to bear

Usage: had hard luck; a tough break

Similar words: bad

Definition: having undesirable or negative qualities

Usage: a bad report card; his sloppy appearance made a bad impression; a bad little boy; clothes in bad shape; a bad cut; bad luck; the news was very bad; the reviews were bad; the pay is bad; it was a bad light for reading; the movie was a bad choice


Synonyms: hard

Definition: resisting weight or pressure

Similar words: adamantine

Definition: having the hardness of a diamond


Similar words: al dente

Definition: of pasta cooked so as to be firm when eaten


Similar words: corneous, hornlike, horny

Definition: made of horn (or of a substance resembling horn)


Similar words: tumid, erect

Definition: of sexual organs; stiff and rigid


Similar words: firm, solid

Definition: not soft or yielding to pressure

Usage: a firm mattress; the snow was firm underfoot; solid ground


Similar words: stony, granitelike, granitic, rocklike

Definition: hard as granite

Usage: a granitic fist


Similar words: set, hardened

Definition: converted to solid form (as concrete)


Similar words: woody

Definition: made hard like wood as the result of the deposition of lignin in the cell walls


Similar words: stonelike, petrous

Definition: (of bone especially the temporal bone) resembling stone in hardness


Similar words: semihard

Definition: somewhat hard


Similar words: steely

Definition: resembling steel in hardness


Similar words: unyielding

Definition: resistant to physical force or pressure

Usage: an unyielding head support


Synonyms: hard

Definition: dispassionate

Usage: took a hard look; a hard bargainer;

Similar words: calculating, calculative, scheming, shrewd, conniving

Definition: used of persons

Usage: the most calculating and selfish men in the community


Similar words: case-hardened, hard-boiled, hardened

Definition: used of persons; emotionally hardened

Usage: faced a case-hardened judge


Similar words: steely

Definition: resembling steel as in hardness

Usage: steely eyes; steely nerves like those of a steeplejack


Synonyms: hard

Definition: (of speech sounds); produced with the back of the tongue raised toward or touching the velum

Usage: Russian distinguished between hard consonants and palatalized or soft consonants

Similar words: velar

Definition: produced with the back of the tongue touching or near the soft palate (as `k' in `cat' and `g' in `gun' and `ng' in `sing')


Synonyms: hard, strong

Definition: being distilled rather than fermented; having a high alcoholic content

Usage: hard liquor

Similar words: alcoholic

Definition: characteristic of or containing alcohol

Usage: alcoholic drinks


Synonyms: heavy, intemperate, hard

Definition: given to excessive indulgence of bodily appetites especially for intoxicating liquors

Usage: a hard drinker

Similar words: indulgent

Definition: characterized by or given to yielding to the wishes of someone

Usage: indulgent grandparents


Synonyms: voiceless, unvoiced, hard, surd

Definition: produced without vibration of the vocal cords

Usage: unvoiced consonants such as `p' and `k' and `s'

Similar words: whispered

Definition: spoken in soft hushed tones without vibrations of the vocal cords

Usage: a long whispered conversation


Synonyms: knockout, hard, severe

Definition: very strong or vigorous

Usage: strong winds; a hard left to the chin; a knockout punch; a severe blow

Similar words: strong

Definition: having strength or power greater than average or expected

Usage: a strong radio signal; strong medicine; a strong man


Visual thesaurus for hard