• (RP) enPR: häd, IPA: /hɑːd/
• (America) enPR: härd, IPA: /hɑɹd/

From Middle English hard, from Old English heard, from Proto-West Germanic *hard(ī), from Proto-Germanic *harduz, from Proto-Indo-European , from *kret- ("strong, powerful").

hard (comparative harder, superlative hardest)

1. (of material or fluid) Solid and firm.
   • 2001, Salman Rushdie, Fury: A Novel, London: Jonathan Cape, →ISBN, page 5 ↗:

     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.

   1. Resistant to pressure; difficult to break, cut or penetrate.

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

   2. (of drink or drugs) Strong.
   3. (of a normally nonalcoholic drink) Containing alcohol.

      hard cider, hard lemonade, hard seltzer, hard soda

   4. (of water) High in dissolved chemical salts, especially those of calcium.
   5. (physics, of a ferromagnetic material) Having the capability of being a permanent magnet by being a material with high magnetic coercivity (compare soft).
   6. (physics, of electromagnetic radiation) Having a high energy (high frequency; short wavelength).

      hard X-rays

   7. (photography, of light) Made up of parallel rays, producing clearly defined shadows.
2. (personal or social) Having a severe property; presenting difficulty.
   1. Difficult or requiring a lot of effort to do, understand, experience, or deal with.

      a hard problem;  a hard question;  a hard topic

      • 1988, Edmund White, An Oracle:

        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.

   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

      The senator asked the party chief to put the hard word on his potential rivals.

      • 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 ↗:

        [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.

   4. (dated) Difficult to resist or control; powerful.
      • 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 ↗:

        The stag was too hard for the horse.

      • 1716 March 23 (Gregorian calendar), Joseph Addison, “The Free-holder: No. 24. Monday, March 12. [1716.]”, in The Works of the Right Honourable Joseph Addison, Esq; […], volume IV, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], published 1721, →OCLC ↗:

        a power which will be always too hard for them

   5. (military) Hardened; having unusually strong defences.

      a hard site

   6. (slang) Tough, muscular, badass.

      He thinks he's well hard.

      • 2006, Noire [pseudonym], Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.: One World, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 108 ↗:

        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.

   7. (slang) Excellent, impressive.

      This song goes hard.

      This guy always has the hardest fits.

3. Unquestionable; unequivocal.

   hard evidence;  a hard requirement

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; having an erect penis.

   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, uncomparable) Fortis.
   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.

8. (Slavic phonology) Velarized or plain, rather than palatalized.

   The letter ж in Russian is always hard.

9. (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.
10. (uncomparable)
    1. In a physical form, not digital.

       a soft or hard copy; a digital or hard archive

    2. Using a manual or physical process, not by means of a software command.

       a hard reboot or reset

11. (politics) Far, extreme.

    hard right, hard left

12. Of silk: not having had the natural gum boiled off.
13. (finance) Of a market: having more demand than supply; being a seller's market.

    Antonyms: soft

    • 2009, J. David Cummins, Olivier Mahul, Catastrophe Risk Financing in Developing Countries, page 7:

      Undercapitalized insurers cannot retain more catastrophe risks when the market is hard […]

14. (of pornography) Hardcore.

• (resistant to pressure) resistant, solid, stony, see also Thesaurus:hard
• (requiring a lot of effort to do or understand) confusing, difficult, puzzling, tough, tricky
• (requiring a lot of effort to endure) difficult, intolerable, tough, unbearable
• (severe) harsh, hostile, severe, strict, tough, unfriendly
• (unquestionable) incontrovertible, indubitable, unambiguous, unequivocal, unquestionable
• (of drink) strong
• See also Thesaurus:difficult

• (antonym(s) of “resistant to pressure”): soft
• (antonym(s) of “requiring a lot of effort to do or understand”): easy, simple, straightforward, trite
• (antonym(s) of “requiring a lot of effort to endure”): bearable, easy
• (antonym(s) of “severe”): agreeable, amiable, approachable, friendly, nice, pleasant
• (antonym(s) of “unquestionable”): controvertible, doubtful, ambiguous, equivocal, questionable
• (antonym(s) of “of drink”):
  • (antonym(s) of “low in alcohol”): low-alcohol
  • (antonym(s) of “non-alcoholic”): alcohol-free, soft, non-alcoholic
• (antonym(s) of “of roads”): soft
• (antonym(s) of “sexually aroused”): soft, flaccid
• (antonym(s) of “phonetics, all senses”): soft

• hardpeer
• hardy

• French: dur
• German: hart, fest
• Italian: duro
• Portuguese: duro
• Russian: твёрдый
• Spanish: duro

• French: dur, difficile
• German: schwierig, hart, schwer, herausfordernd
• Italian: duro, difficile, intenso
• Portuguese: difícil
• Russian: тяжёлый
• Spanish: duro, difícil

• French: dur
• German: schwierig, schwer
• Italian: arduo
• Portuguese: duro, difícil, árduo, rigoroso
• Russian: тяжёлый

• French: dur
• German: hart
• Italian: difficile, severo
• Portuguese: difícil, severo
• Russian: тяжёлый
• Spanish: duro, difícil

• French: irréfutable
• German: fix
• Italian: indiscutibile
• Portuguese: inquestionável
• Russian: неопровержимый
• Spanish: incuestionable

• French: fort
• German: stark
• Italiano: forte
• Portuguese: forte
• Russian: кре́пкий
• Spanish: fuerte

• French: dure
• German: hart
• Italian: dura
• Portuguese: duro
• Russian: жёсткий
• Spanish: duro

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.

   The recession hit them especially hard.

   Think hard about your choices.

   The couple were fucking each other hard.

   • 1595, Edmunde Spenser [i.e., Edmund Spenser], “[Amoretti.] Sonnet VI”, in Amoretti and Epithalamion. […], London: […] [Peter Short] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC ↗, signature A4, verso ↗:

     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.

   • 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act III, scene i]:

     […] My father / Is hard at study. Pray now, rest yourself; […]

   • 1700, [John] Dryden, “The Wife of Bath's Tale”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC ↗:

     prayed so hard for mercy from the prince

2. (manner) With difficulty.

   His degree was hard earned.

3. (obsolete) So as to raise difficulties.
   • 1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC ↗:

     The question is hard set.

4. (manner) Compactly.

   The lake had finally frozen hard.

5. (now, archaic) Near, close.

   At the intersection, bear hard left.

   • c. 1587–1588, [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 ↗:

     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.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, Acts 18:7 ↗:

     […] whose house joined hard to the synagogue.

   • 1999, George R.R. Martin, A Clash of Kings, Bantam, published 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.

• French: dur, durement
• Italian: sodo
• Portuguese: bem
• Russian: си́льно

hard

1. (countable, nautical) A firm or paved beach or slope convenient for hauling vessels out of the water.
2. (countable, motorsports) A tyre whose compound is softer than superhards, and harder than mediums.
3. (uncountable, drugs, slang) Crack cocaine.
4. (uncountable, slang) Hard labor.

   The prisoners were sentenced to three years' hard.

From Middle English harden, herden, from Old English heardian and hierdan, from Proto-West Germanic *hardēn and *hardijan, from Proto-Germanic *hardijaną.

hard (hards, present participle harding; simple past and past participle harded)

1. (transitive, obsolete) To make hard, harden.
   • 1641, original 1618, Guillaume de Saluste Du Bartas, Josuah Sylvester, Du Bartas His Diuine Weekes and Workes:

     He knows vain men: he sees their harts that hard them In Guiles and Wiles, and will not hee regard them?

• From Old English - and nrf - derivatives of Old French hardi.
• English topographical surname for farmers living on hard ground, from hard.

1. Surname.