From Middle English hard, from Old English heard, from Proto-West Germanic *hard(ī), from Proto-Germanic *harduz, from Proto-Indo-European *kort-ús, from *kret- (“strong, powerful”). Cognates Cognate with Yola hard (“hard”), West Frisian hurd (“hard”), Alemannic German hert (“hard”), Bavarian hoat (“hard”), Central Franconian haat (“hard”), Dutch hard (“hard”), German hart (“hard”), Luxembourgish haart (“hard”), Danish and Swedish hård (“hard”), Faroese and Icelandic harður (“hard”), Norwegian Bokmål hard (“hard”), Norwegian Nynorsk hard, hard’u (“hard”), Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐍂𐌳𐌿𐍃 (hardus, “hard”), Ancient Greek κρατύς (kratús, “strong, mighty”), Sanskrit क्रतु (krátu, “power, might, ability”), Avestan 𐬑𐬭𐬀𐬙𐬎 (xratu).
Be nought diſmayd that her vnmoued mind, / doth ſtill perſiſt in her rebellious pride: / ſuch loue not lyke to luſts of baſer kynd, / the harder vvonne, the firmer vvill abide.1595, Edmunde Spenser [i.e., Edmund Spenser], “[Amoretti.] Sonnet VI”, in Amoretti and Epithalamion. […], London: […] [Peter Short] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, signature A4, verso:
The question is hard set.1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC:
The King your brother is now hard at hand, / Meete with the foole, and rid your royall ſhoulders / Of ſuch a burden, as outweighs the ſands / And all the craggie rockes of Caſpea.c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene iii:
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[…]whose house joined hard to the synagogue.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 18:7:
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.1999, George R.R. Martin, A Clash of Kings, Bantam, published 2011, page 418:
From Middle English hard, from Old English heard, from Proto-West Germanic *hard(ī), from Proto-Germanic *harduz, from Proto-Indo-European *kort-ús, from *kret- (“strong, powerful”). Cognates Cognate with Yola hard (“hard”), West Frisian hurd (“hard”), Alemannic German hert (“hard”), Bavarian hoat (“hard”), Central Franconian haat (“hard”), Dutch hard (“hard”), German hart (“hard”), Luxembourgish haart (“hard”), Danish and Swedish hård (“hard”), Faroese and Icelandic harður (“hard”), Norwegian Bokmål hard (“hard”), Norwegian Nynorsk hard, hard’u (“hard”), Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐍂𐌳𐌿𐍃 (hardus, “hard”), Ancient Greek κρατύς (kratús, “strong, mighty”), Sanskrit क्रतु (krátu, “power, might, ability”), Avestan 𐬑𐬭𐬀𐬙𐬎 (xratu).
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Nautical, Transport A firm or paved beach or slope convenient for hauling vessels out of the water.
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 […]1952, Edward John Barrington Douglas-Scott-Montagu Baron Montagu, Beaulieu, the Abbey, Palace House, and Buckler's Hard, page 36:
He brought the dinghy up to the careening hard. Two or three boats lay on their sides on the sloping roadway, but there was no sign of life.1967, John Christopher, The White Mountains:
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Hobbies, Lifestyle, Motor racing, Racing, Sports A tyre whose compound is softer than superhards, and harder than mediums.
The prisoners were sentenced to three years' hard.
Derived terms
Bucklers Hard
hard
verb
Etymology From Middle English harden, herden, from Old English heardian (“to become hard”) and hierdan (“to make hard”), from Proto-West Germanic *hardēn and *hardijan, from Proto-Germanic *hardijaną. Cognates Cognate with Dutch harden (“to harden”), German härten (“to harden”), Danish hærde (“to harden; to temper”), Icelandic herða (“to harden”), Norwegian Bokmål herde (“to harden; to toughen”), Norwegian Nynorsk herda (“to make hard, temper; harden”), Swedish härda (“harden, temper”), Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌷𐌰𐍂𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌽 (gahardjan), *𐌷𐌰𐍂𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌽 (*hardjan, “to harden”).
He knows vain men: he sees their harts that hard them In Guiles and Wiles, and will not hee regard them?1641, original 1618, Guillaume de Saluste Du Bartas, Josuah Sylvester, Du Bartas His Diuine Weekes and Workes:
HARD
adj
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Mnemonic An acronym for remembering desirable characteristics for goal-setting: heartfelt, animated, required, difficult.
Unlike achievable and realistic goals that leave you stuck in the status-quo, HARD Goals light up the brain and encourage great performance.2017 June 11, Mark Murphy, “HARD Goals, Not SMART Goals, Are The Key To Career Development”, in Forbes, archived from the original on 11 Jun 2017:
From Middle English hard, from Old English heard, from Proto-West Germanic *hard(ī), from Proto-Germanic *harduz, from Proto-Indo-European *kort-ús, from *kret- (“strong, powerful”). Cognates Cognate with Yola hard (“hard”), West Frisian hurd (“hard”), Alemannic German hert (“hard”), Bavarian hoat (“hard”), Central Franconian haat (“hard”), Dutch hard (“hard”), German hart (“hard”), Luxembourgish haart (“hard”), Danish and Swedish hård (“hard”), Faroese and Icelandic harður (“hard”), Norwegian Bokmål hard (“hard”), Norwegian Nynorsk hard, hard’u (“hard”), Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐍂𐌳𐌿𐍃 (hardus, “hard”), Ancient Greek κρατύς (kratús, “strong, mighty”), Sanskrit क्रतु (krátu, “power, might, ability”), Avestan 𐬑𐬭𐬀𐬙𐬎 (xratu).
Luckily she wasn’t there any more, no one was, when he returned from the Caribbean carnival damp-hatted and soaked through after being caught unprepared by a squall of hard, hot rain.2001, Salman Rushdie, Fury: A Novel, London: Jonathan Cape, →ISBN, page 5:
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Of material or fluid Resistant to pressure; difficult to break, cut, or penetrate.
This bread is so stale and hard, I can barely cut it.
3
Of drink or drugs, Of material or fluid Strong.
4
Of a normally nonalcoholic drink, Of material or fluid Containing alcohol.
hard cider, hard lemonade, hard seltzer, hard soda
Stunned, she deleted his number and went home. Then she cracked a hard seltzer, opened her phone’s camera and filmed a TikTok video recounting the evening […].2023 March 1, Rachel Ellison, “Bad Dates Turn Out to Be Excellent on TikTok”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 02 Mar 2023:
While most 1974s remain hard, tannic, hollow wines lacking ripeness, flesh, and character, a number of the Graves estates did produce surprisingly spicy, interesting wines.2002, Robert M. Parker (Jr.), Pierre-Antoine Rovani, Parker's Wine Buyer's Guide (page 175)
6
Of water, Of material or fluid High in dissolved chemical salts, especially those of calcium.
7
Natural sciences, Physical sciences, PhysicsOf a ferromagnetic material, Of material or fluid Having the capability of being a permanent magnet by being a material with high magnetic coercivity (compare soft).
8
Natural sciences, Physical sciences, PhysicsOf electromagnetic radiation, Of material or fluid Having a high energy (high frequency; short wavelength).
hard X-rays
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Arts, Hobbies, Lifestyle, PhotographyOf light, Of material or fluid Made up of parallel rays, producing clearly defined shadows.
› Having a severe property; presenting difficulty.
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Difficult or requiring a lot of effort to do, understand, experience, or deal with.
Personal or social
a hard problem; a hard question; a hard topic
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.1988, Edmund White, An Oracle:
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The stone circle is small and hard to find and the search is made harder because all down the beck cars are parked on the verge and the supposedly unfrequented road up the valley very busy.1999 January 21, Alan Bennett, “What I did in 1998”, in London Review of Books, volume 21, number 2:
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.2013 July 26, Nick Miroff, “Mexico gets a taste for eating insects …”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 7, page 32:
It’s been said that, for nonstellar teachers at least, the hardest things to teach are the things one loves most.2016 January 2, James Romm, “Beginning Greek, Again and Again”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 08 Nov 2020:
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Demanding a lot of effort to endure.
Personal or social
a hard life
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Severe, harsh, unfriendly, brutal.
Personal or social
a hard master; a hard heart; hard words; a hard character
The senator asked the party chief to put the hard word on his potential rivals.
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[L]eave off fornicating, leave the Girls to the Boys, and ſtand to thy Bottle: It is a Virtue becoming our Years; and don't be too hard on a vvild honeſt young Rake.1730, [Henry Fielding], Rape upon Rape; or, The Justice Caught in His Own Trap. A Comedy. […], London: […] J. Wat[t]s, […], →OCLC, Act IV, scene vii, page 58:
The stag was too hard for the horse.1692, Roger L’Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC:
a power which will be always too hard for them1716 March 22 (Gregorian calendar), Joseph Addison, “The Free-holder: No. 24. Sunday, March 12. [1716.]”, in The Works of the Right Honourable Joseph Addison, Esq; […], volume IV, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], published 1721, →OCLC:
I was a hard niggah, but not twisted enough to eat and socialize with my peeps knowing I was planning on robbing them before the night was over.2006, Noire [pseudonym], Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.: One World, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 108:
[…]for, unless supported by hard facts, abusive words would recoil on him who used them, and would pass like empty air over the head of an innocent man.1796, The History of the Trial of Warren Hastings:
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Here are a few techniques to turn a hard "no" into an easy "yes"!1962, The Selling Power of a Woman:
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.2011 December 19, Kerry Brown, “Kim Jong-il obituary”, in The Guardian:
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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.
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Slang, Vulgar Sexually aroused; having an erect penis.
I got so hard watching two hot girls wrestle each other on the beach.
20
Bodybuilding, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports Having muscles that are tightened as a result of intense, regular exercise.
Of silk Not having had the natural gum boiled off.
30
Business, Finance Of a market: having more demand than supply; being a seller's market.
Undercapitalized insurers cannot retain more catastrophe risks when the market is hard […]2009, J. David Cummins, Olivier Mahul, Catastrophe Risk Financing in Developing Countries, page 7: