CASE-HARDENED Synonyms: 153 Similar and Opposite Words

case-hardened 1 of 2

adjective

as in ruthless

having or showing a lack of sympathy or tender feelings a case-hardened homicide detective who has seen it all

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case-hardened

2 of 2

verb

past tense of case-harden

as in tempered

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for case-hardened

Adjective

The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.

— Lexy Perez, HollywoodReporter, 15 Oct. 2026
Facinelli plays the Boss, a ruthless figure whose cash ends up in the pool hustler’s hands, and intends to get it back, one way or another.

— Zac Ntim, Deadline, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of ruthless

Verb

And no conflict has crystallized this attraction to the world’s stronger nations over their weaker victims of aggression as has Russia’s war in Ukraine.

— Howard LaFranchi, Christian Science Monitor, 22 Oct. 2026
But now, as everything online morphs into algorithmic social media, the case for concern has crystallized into something quite specific.

— Allison Parshall, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of crystallized

Adjective

It would be seen as a work of merciless autofiction in the vein of Karl Ove Knausgaard, and it would be discussed, as his books are, as aggressive, antisocial, and spiteful.

— B. D. McClay, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2026
In the story, Ria teams up with her foster mother and their fellow punks to resist a merciless developer intent on tearing down their building.

— Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 19 Oct. 2026

Definition of merciless

Verb

The first film follows a group of French high-school students who travel to Naples on a school trip to discover the ruins of Pompeii and the bodies petrified by Vesuvius.

— Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 20 May 2026
Johansson plays her with a tough edge to match her Queens accent, but Hester is clearly petrified by this perfect storm of ugly events.

— David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 16 May 2026

Definition of petrified

Adjective

Oscar Wilde, for example, reposes beneath a hulking deity whose iconoclastic castration, back in 1961, did little to restrain pilgrims seeking to smear red lips across his stony physique.

— Emily Cox, ARTnews.com, 22 May 2026
Instead of looking like a sleek urban loft, the room can quickly start to feel cold, stony, and impersonal.

— Natasha Bazika, Martha Stewart, 9 May 2026

Definition of stony

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case-harden

case-hardened

case-hardening

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“Case-hardened.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/case-hardened. Accessed 25 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of case-hardened

adjective

verb

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