hardened

English

Alternative forms

• harden'd (obsolete)

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈhɑːdn̩d/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈhɑɹd(ə)nd/
• Hyphenation: hard‧ened

Verb

hardened

1. simple past and past participle of harden

   hardened steel

Adjective

hardened (comparative more hardened, superlative most hardened)

1. Having been accustomed or desensitized to something unpleasant through exposure or experience; inured.

   Synonyms: habituated, toughened

   hardened police officers

2. Unfeeling; pitiless; callous.

   Synonyms: harsh, severe; see also Thesaurus:stern

   The bloody scene could reduce even the most hardened soldier to tears.

   • 1983 April 17, “Progress for Green Island”, in 自由中國週報 [Free China Weekly]‎^[1], volume XXIV, number 15, Taipei, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 2, column 3:

     In the past, Lutao was considered somewhat mysterious, because of the national penitentiary which housed the most hardened criminals, and the restrictions on travel to the island, which have since been loosened.

   • 2021 November 29, Erich Parpart, “Ultra royalists condemn Amnesty International, call for their removal”, in Thai Enquirer‎^[2], Thai Enquirer, retrieved 2021-11-29:

     Hardened royalists staged a protest against Amnesty International Thailand at Silom Complex on Monday. The group said that the human rights watchdog is undermining the country’s stability by campaigning for the rights of the detained protest leaders who are calling for the reformation of the royal institution.

3. Firmly established in a behavior seen as bad; unlikely to change one's ways; inveterate.

   hardened criminals

4. (computing, military) Having extra defences against attack; highly fortified.

   a hardened air base

   a hardened server

Derived terms

• battle-hardened
• case-hardened
• radiation-hardened
• unhardened

 

Translations

inured, toughened

• Catalan: endurit
• Finnish: karaistunut, luja (fi)
• French: endurci (fr)
• German: gehärtet (de)
• Italian: indurito (it)
• Portuguese: endurecido (pt)

unfeeling; pitiless; callous

• Bulgarian: закоравял (bg) (zakoravjal)
• Finnish: paatunut (fi) (callous); tunteeton (fi) (unfeeling); säälimätön (fi) (pitiless)
• German: abgehärtet (de), verhärtet (de)
• Gothic: 𐌳𐌰𐌿𐍆𐍃 (daufs)
• Polish: stwardniały
• Russian: огрубе́вший (ru) m (ogrubévšij)
• Spanish: endurecido (es), aguerrido (es)

firmly established or unlikely to change

; inveterate.

• Finnish: vakiintunut (fi), luutunut

having extra defences against attack

• Finnish: vahvistettu (fi)

Anagrams

• adherend, deharden