hard-hitting

adjective

hard-hit·​ting ˈhärd-ˈhi-tiŋ How to pronounce hard-hitting (audio)
: strikingly effective in force or result
a hard-hitting exposé
plain hard-hitting English

Examples of hard-hitting in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Jerry Jones may make more trades and signings — like agreeing on a two-year deal with Leighton Vander Esch after making nice with hard-hitting Donovan Wilson — that get them over a hump that’s played like Mount Everest. Kevin Sherrington, Dallas News, 15 Mar. 2023 They are accompanied by hard-hitting dramas and semi-nonfiction films, and, as usual, the prize in several leading Oscars categories could be anyone's game. Emily Mae Czachor, CBS News, 9 Mar. 2023 Leading an all-female team of performers including the DJ in keeping with the evening’s theme, the trilingual artist performed a hard-hitting set of songs with lyrics mixing Korean, English and Japanese. Billboard Japan, Billboard, 7 Mar. 2023 The high-tech recon vehicles are a Stryker brigade’s cavalry—its fast-moving, far-seeing, hard-hitting scouts. David Axe, Forbes, 7 Mar. 2023 The Philadelphia Flyers made two trades, sending Patrick Brown to Ottawa and hard-hitting winger Zack MacEwen to Los Angeles for Brendan Lemieux and a 2024 fifth-round pick. BostonGlobe.com, 3 Mar. 2023 Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A clever turn of phrase, a great pitch for a feature article or a hard-hitting investigation — these were things that made Michael Collier’s face break out in a big grin in a newsroom. Kevin Fagan, San Francisco Chronicle, 27 Feb. 2023 There is an exceptional team of journalists here with a burning passion for hard-hitting visual storytelling. Georg Szalai, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Feb. 2023 Orlov, issued No. 81, rode on the right side of a No. 3 defense pairing with Derek Forbort, bumping hard-hitting Connor Clifton out of the job for the night. Kevin Paul Dupont, BostonGlobe.com, 25 Feb. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hard-hitting.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1831, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of hard-hitting was in 1831

Dictionary Entries Near hard-hitting

Cite this Entry

“Hard-hitting.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hard-hitting. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

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