hardness (n.)

  1. the property of being rigid and resistant to pressure; not easily scratched; measured on Mohs scale

  2. a quality of water that contains dissolved mineral salts that prevent soap from lathering; the costs of reducing hardness depend on the relative amounts of calcium and magnesium compounds that are present'

  3. devoid of passion or feeling; hardheartedness

    [ Syn: unfeelingness , callousness , callosity , insensibility ]

  4. the quality of being difficult to do; he assigned a series of problems of increasing hardness; the ruggedness of his exams caused half the class to fail

    [ Syn: ruggedness ]

  5. excessive sternness; severity of character; the harshness of his punishment was inhuman; the rigors of boot camp

    [ Syn: severity , severeness , harshness , rigor , rigour , rigorousness , rigourousness , inclemency , stiffness ]

The dictionary is based on the WordNet Electronic Lexical Database.
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