not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure; a difficult task; nesting places on the cliffs are difficult of access; difficult times; why is it so hard for you to keep a secret?

[ Syn: difficult ]

dispassionate; took a hard look; a hard bargainer;

resisting weight or pressure

produced without vibration of the vocal cords; unvoiced consonants such as `p and `k and `s

[ Syn: unvoiced , voiceless , surd ]

(of light) transmitted directly from a pointed light source

[ Syn: concentrated ]

(of speech sounds); produced with the back of the tongue raised toward or touching the velum; Russian distinguished between hard consonants and palatalized or soft consonants'

with effort or force or vigor; the team played hard; worked hard all day; pressed hard on the lever; hit the ball hard; slammed the door hard'

to the full extent possible; all the way; hard alee; the ship went hard astern; swung the wheel hard left'

with firmness; held hard to the railing

[ Syn: firmly , firmly , firmly , firmly , firmly , firmly , firmly , firmly ]

earnestly or intently; thought hard about it; stared hard at the accused'

causing great damage or hardship; industries hit hard by the depression; she was severely affected by the banks failure

[ Syn: severely , severely , severely , severely , severely , severely , severely , severely ]

slowly and with difficulty; prejudices die hard'

indulging excessively; he drank heavily

[ Syn: heavily , heavily , heavily , heavily , intemperately , intemperately , intemperately , intemperately , heavily , heavily , heavily , heavily , intemperately , intemperately , intemperately , intemperately , heavily , heavily , heavily , heavily , intemperately , intemperately , intemperately , intemperately , heavily , heavily , heavily , heavily , intemperately , intemperately , intemperately , intemperately ]

into a solid condition; concrete that sets hard within a few hours'

very near or close in space or time; it stands hard by the railroad tracks; they were hard on his heels; a strike followed hard upon the plant's opening'

with pain or distress or bitterness; he took the rejection very hard'

being distilled rather than fermented; having a high alcoholic content; hard liquor

[ Syn: strong ]

unfortunate or hard to bear; had hard luck; a tough break

[ Syn: tough ]

dried out; hard dry rolls left over from the day before'

very strong or vigorous; strong winds; a hard left to the chin; a knockout punch; a severe blow

[ Syn: knockout , severe ]

characterized by effort to the point of exhaustion; especially physical effort; worked their arduous way up the mining valley; a grueling campaign; hard labor; heavy work; heavy going; spent many laborious hours on the project; set a punishing pace

[ Syn: arduous , backbreaking , grueling , gruelling , heavy , laborious , operose , punishing , toilsome ]

given to excessive indulgence of bodily appetites especially for intoxicating liquors; a hard drinker

[ Syn: intemperate , heavy ]