3 VERB When prices and economies harden , they become much more stable than they were. □ [V ] Property prices are just beginning to harden again.
4 VERB When events harden people or when people harden , they become less easily affected emotionally and less sympathetic and gentle than they were before. □ [V n] Her years of drunken bickering hardened my heart. □ [V + against ] All of a sudden my heart hardened against her.
5 VERB If you say that someone's face or eyes harden , you mean that they suddenly look serious or angry. □ [V ] His smile died and the look in his face hardened.
hard|ened /hɑː r d ə nd/ ADJ [usu ADJ n] If you describe someone as hardened , you mean that they have had so much experience of something bad or unpleasant that they are no longer affected by it in the way that other people would be. □ …hardened criminals. □ …hardened politicians.
ha rd hat (hard hats ) N‑COUNT A hard hat is a hat made from a hard material, which people wear to protect their heads on building sites or in factories, or when riding a horse.
ha rd-hea ded ADJ You use hard-headed to describe someone who is practical and determined to get what they want or need, and who does not allow emotions to affect their actions. □ …a hard-headed and shrewd businesswoman.
ha rd-hea rted ADJ If you describe someone as hard-hearted , you disapprove of the fact that they have no sympathy for other people and do not care if people are hurt or made unhappy. [DISAPPROVAL ] □ You would have to be pretty hard-hearted not to feel something for him.
ha rd-hi tting ADJ [usu ADJ n] If you describe a report or speech as hard-hitting , you like the way it talks about difficult or serious matters in a bold and direct way. [JOURNALISM , APPROVAL ] □ In a hard-hitting speech to the IMF, he urged third world countries to undertake sweeping reforms.
ha rd la |bour in AM, use hard labor N‑UNCOUNT Hard labour is hard physical work which people have to do as punishment for a crime. □ The sentence of the court was twelve years' hard labour, to be served in a British prison.
ha rd le ft also hard-left N‑SING [oft N n] You use hard left to describe those members of a left wing political group or party who have the most extreme political beliefs. [mainly BRIT ] □ …the hard-left view that foreign forces should not have been sent. in AM, usually use far left
hard|line /hɑː r dla I n/ also hard-line ADJ If you describe someone's policy or attitude as hardline , you mean that it is strict or extreme, and they refuse to change it. □ The United States has taken a lot of criticism for its hard-line stance.
hard|liner ◆◇◇ /hɑː r dla I nə r / (hardliners ) N‑COUNT [usu pl] The hardliners in a group such as a political party are the people who support a strict, fixed set of ideas that are often extreme, and who refuse to accept any change in them. □ Unionist hardliners warned the U.S. President he would not be welcome.
ha rd lu ck
1 N‑UNCOUNT If you say that someone had some hard luck , or that a situation was hard luck on them, you mean that something bad happened to them and you are implying that it was not their fault. [INFORMAL ] □ We had a bit of hard luck this season.
2 N‑UNCOUNT If someone says that a bad situation affecting you is just your hard luck , they do not care about it or think you should be helped, often because they think it is your fault. [INFORMAL ] □ The shop assistants didn't really want to discuss the matter, saying it was just my hard luck.
3 CONVENTION You can say ' hard luck ' to someone to show that you are sorry they have not got or done something that they had wanted to get or do. [INFORMAL , FEELINGS ] □ Hard luck, chaps, but don't despair too much.
hard|ly ◆◆◇ /hɑː r dli/
1 ADV [ADV before v] You use hardly to modify a statement when you want to emphasize that it is only a small amount or detail which makes it true, and that therefore it is best to consider the opposite statement as being true. [EMPHASIS ] □ I hardly know you. □ Their two faces were hardly more than eighteen inches apart.
2 ADV You use hardly in expressions such as hardly ever , hardly any , and hardly anyone to mean almost never, almost none, or almost no-one. □ [+ ever ] We ate chips every night, but hardly ever had fish. □ [+ any ] Most of the others were so young they had hardly any experience.
3 ADV [ADV n] You use hardly before a negative statement in order to emphasize that something is usually true or usually happens. [EMPHASIS ] □ Hardly a day goes by without a visit from someone.
4 ADV When you say you can hardly do something, you are emphasizing that it is very difficult for you to do it. [EMPHASIS ] □ My garden was covered with so many butterflies that I could hardly see the flowers.
5 ADV [ADV before v] If you say hardly had one thing happened when something else happened, you mean that the first event was followed immediately by the second. □ He had hardly collected the papers on his desk when the door burst open.
6 ADV [ADV before v] You use hardly to mean 'not' when you want to suggest that you are expecting your listener or reader to agree with your comment. □ We have not seen the letter, so we can hardly comment on it.
7 CONVENTION You use ' hardly ' to mean 'no', especially when you want to express surprise or annoyance at a statement that you disagree with. [SPOKEN ] □ 'They all thought you were marvellous!'—'Well, hardly.' SYNONYMS hardly ADV 1