hard

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English Vietnamese dictionary

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Advanced English dictionary

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adjective, adverb
+ adjective (harder, hardest)
solid / stiff
1 solid, firm or stiff and difficult to bend or break: Wait for the concrete to go hard. + a hard mattress + Diamonds are the hardest known mineral.
Antonym: SOFT
difficult
2 ~ (for sb) (to do sth) difficult to do, understand or answer: a hard choice / question + It is hard to believe that she's only nine. + It's hard to see how they can lose. + 'When will the job be finished?' 'It's hard to say.' (= it is difficult to be certain) + I find his attitude very hard to take (= difficult to accept). + You are hard to please, aren't you? + It's hard for old people to change their ways. + It must be hard for her, bringing up four children on her own. + We're finding reliable staff hard to come by (= difficult to get).
Antonym: EASY
3 full of difficulty and problems, especially because of a lack of money
Synonym: TOUGH
Times were hard at the end of the war. + She's had a hard life.
Antonym: EASY
needing / using effort
4 needing or using a lot of physical strength or mental effort: It's hard work shovelling snow. + I've had a long hard day. + This season has been a hard slog. + They had put in hours of hard graft.
5 (of people) putting a lot of effort or energy into an activity: She's a very hard worker. + He's hard at work on a new novel. + When I left they were all still hard at it (= working hard).
6 done with a lot of strength or force: He gave the door a good hard kick. + a hard punch
without sympathy
7 showing no sympathy or affection: My father was a hard man. + She gave me a hard stare. + His voice was hard. + He said some very hard things to me.
not afraid
8 (informal) (of people) ready to fight and showing no signs of fear or weakness: Come and get me if you think you're hard enough. + You think you're really hard, don't you?
facts / evidence
9 [only before noun] definitely true and based on information that can be proved: Is there any hard evidence either way? + The newspaper story is based on hard facts.
weather
10 very cold and severe: It had been a hard winter. + There was a hard frost that night.
Compare: MILD
drink
11 [only before noun] strongly alcoholic: hard liquor + (informal) a drop of the hard stuff (= a strong alcoholic drink)
Compare: SOFT DRINK
water
12 containing CALCIUM and other mineral salts that make mixing with soap difficult: a hard water area + Our water is very hard.
Antonym: SOFT
consonants
13 (phonetics) used to describe a letter c or g when pronounced as in 'cat' or 'go', rather than as in 'city' or 'giant'
Antonym: SOFT
hardness noun [U]: water hardness + hardness of heart
Idioms: be hard on sb/sth
1 to treat or criticize sb in a very severe or strict way: Don't be too hard on him-he's very young.
2 to be difficult for or unfair to sb/sth: It's hard on people who don't have a car.
3 to be likely to hurt or damage sth: Looking at a computer screen all day can be very hard on the eyes.
drive / strike a hard bargain to argue in an aggressive way and force sb to agree on the best possible price or arrangement
give sb a hard time to deliberately make a situation difficult and unpleasant for sb: They really gave me a hard time at the interview.
hard and fast (especially after a negative) that cannot be changed in any circumstances: There are no hard and fast rules about this. + This situation isn't hard and fast.
(as) hard as nails showing no sympathy, kindness or fear
hard cheese (BrE, informal) used as a way of saying that you are sorry about sth, usually in an IRONIC way (= you really mean the opposite)
hard going difficult to understand or needing a lot of effort: I'm finding his latest novel very hard going.
hard luck / lines (BrE) used to tell sb that you feel sorry for them: 'Failed again, I'm afraid.' 'Oh, hard luck.'
the hard way by having an unpleasant experience or by making mistakes: She won't listen to my advice so she'll just have to learn the hard way.
make hard work of sth to use more time or energy on a task than is necessary
no hard feelings used to tell sb that you no longer feel any anger towards them: Someone's got to lose. No hard feelings, Dave, eh?
play hard to get (informal) to make yourself seem more attractive or interesting by not immediately accepting an invitation to do sth
too much like hard work needing too much effort: I can't be bothered making a hot meal-it's too much like hard work.
more at JOB, NUT n., ROCK n.
+ adverb (harder, hardest)
with effort
1 with great effort; with difficulty: to work hard + to fight / struggle hard + You must try harder. + She tried her hardest not to show how disappointed she was. + Don't hit it so hard! + He was still breathing hard after his run. + Our victory was hard won (= won with great difficulty).
with force
2 with great force: (figurative) Small businesses have been hit hard / hard hit by the recession.
carefully
3 very carefully and thoroughly: to think / look / listen hard + We thought long and hard before deciding to move house.
a lot
4 heavily; a lot or for a long time: It was raining hard when we set off. + to laugh / cry hard
left / right
5 at a sharp angle to the left/right: Turn hard right at the next junction.
Idioms: be / feel hard done by (informal) to be or feel unfairly treated: She has every right to feel hard done by-her parents have given her nothing.
be hard pressed / pushed to do sth
be hard put (to it) to do sth to find it very difficult to do sth: He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.
be hard up for sth to have too few or too little of sth: We're hard up for ideas.
See also - HARD UP
hard on sth (written) very soon after: His death followed hard on hers.
take sth hard to be very upset by sth: He took his wife's death very hard.
more at DIE v., HEEL n.
WHICH WORD?
hard / hardly
The adverb from the adjective hard is hard: I have to work hard today. + She has thought very hard about her future plans. + It was raining hard outside.
Hardly is an adverb meaning 'almost not': I hardly ever go to concerts. + I can hardly wait for my birthday. It cannot be used instead of hard:
I've been working hardly today. + She has thought very hardly about her future plans. + It was raining hardly outside.
- note at HARDLY

Thesaurus dictionary

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adj.

1 rigid, stiff, solid, inflexible, firm, dense, condensed, compressed, close, solidified, hardened; stony, rocklike, concrete, petrified, granite(-like), flinty, steely; tough, rugged, leathery, callous; unyielding, adamant(ine), impenetrable, obdurate, impervious, impregnable:

The cement gets hard in an hour. This steak is as hard as shoe-leather. The metal was so hard that I broke three drills trying to make a hole in it

2 difficult, laborious, arduous, back-breaking, burdensome, onerous, fatiguing, tiring, exhausting, wearying, strenuous, tough, toilsome:

Laying track for the railway is a very hard job.

3 difficult, perplexing, knotty, puzzling, baffling, enigmatic, intricate, complicated, complex, tangled, involved, thorny, incomprehensible, inscrutable, unsolvable, insoluble, Colloq tough:

There were a lot of hard questions in the exam.

4 stern, cold, callous, intractable, exacting, strict, demanding, hard-hearted, stony-hearted, severe, tyrannical, despotic, dictatorial, magisterial, oppressive, cruel, ruthless, pitiless, merciless, savage, brutal, brutish, inhuman, heartless, harsh, unkind, implacable, unsympathetic, dispassionate, uncompassionate, unfeeling, obdurate, indurate; unsentimental, insensitive, thick-skinned, tough, hard-boiled, stony, hardbitten, unfeeling, unsparing:

Hemel is a hard taskmaster. Of the prison warders, each was harder than the next. He advocates taking a hard line against white-collar crime

5 bad, difficult, grievous, calamitous, racking, disastrous, dark, grim, distressing, devastating, agonizing, painful, unpleasant, severe, austere, Colloq tough, rough:

The years of the Great Depression were hard for everyone.

6 cool, unemotional, calculating, uncompromising, methodical, critical, systematic, practical, pragmatic, businesslike, realistic, penetrating, searching, hard-headed, Colloq tough, hard-nosed:

Shareholders should take a hard look at the annual report. Chapelle drives a hard bargain

7 sedulous, assiduous, devoted, conscientious, industrious, indefatigable, untiring, persistent, dogged, intent, eager, zealous, ardent, energetic, keen, avid:

Galpin is a very hard worker who gets a lot done.

8 cold, bare, plain, straight, straightforward, blunt, unvarnished, unquestionable, verifiable, real, indisputable, undeniable, incontestable, incontrovertible, strict, inescapable, ineluctable, unavoidable, unalterable, immutable:

The hard fact is that the bill has never been paid.

9 angry, bitter, acrimonious, hostile, antagonistic, harsh, unpleasant, unfriendly:

I'm afraid there were some hard words between us.

10 spirituous, alcoholic, strong:

She won't touch hard liquor.

11 addictive, habit-forming:

He later changed from marijuana to hard drugs.

12 sharp, well-defined, clear, distinct, stark, definite:

Note the hard edges of objects in Realist paintings.

adv.

13 vigorously, forcefully, forcibly, energetically, mightily, arduously, laboriously, strenuously, earnestly, actively, dynamically, eagerly, intensely, ardently, heartily, zealously, intently, spiritedly, diligently, assiduously, sedulously, studiously, determinedly, steadfastly, conscientiously, industriously, devotedly, urgently, persistently, untiringly, indefatigably, perseveringly, unfalteringly, relentlessly, doggedly:

They always had to work very hard just to scrape by. He's hard at work writing his new book

14 violently, deeply, intensely, badly, distressingly, painfully, severely, agonizingly:

Failing the examination hit him quite hard.

15 intently, carefully, earnestly:

The judge thought long and hard before passing sentence.

16 harshly, severely, badly, ill:

It's going to go hard with her if she doesn't change her ways.

17 hard up. poor, indigent, poverty-stricken, impoverished, penniless, impecunious, bankrupt, Colloq in the red, broke, bust(ed), on one's uppers, Slang Brit skint:

He's so hard up he can't afford a decent meal.

Collocation dictionary

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¹ solid/stiff

VERBS

be, feel, look, seem

The chairs felt hard and uncomfortable.

| become, go

Don't leave the cake uncovered or the icing will go hard.

| stay

ADV.

extremely, very | a bit, fairly, quite, rather

PHRASES

rock hard

The toffee was rock hard.

² difficult

VERBS

be, look, seem | become, get

Life got very hard.

| make sth

If you tell the children the answers, it only makes it harder for them to do the work on their own.

| find sth

I found the exam quite hard.

ADV.

extremely, really, very | a bit, fairly, pretty, quite, rather

Concise English dictionary

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harder|hardesthɑrd /hɑːd
adj.
+not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure
+dispassionate
+resisting weight or pressure
+very strong or vigorous
+characterized by toilsome effort to the point of exhaustion; especially physical effort
+produced without vibration of the vocal cords
+(of light) transmitted directly from a pointed light source
+(of speech sounds); produced with the back of the tongue raised toward or touching the velum
+given to excessive indulgence of bodily appetites especially for intoxicating liquors
+being distilled rather than fermented; having a high alcoholic content
+unfortunate or hard to bear
+dried out
adv.
+with effort or force or vigor
+with firmness
+earnestly or intently
+causing great damage or hardship
+slowly and with difficulty
+indulging excessively
+into a solid condition
+very near or close in space or time
+with pain or distress or bitterness
+to the full extent possible; all the way

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