HARD-BOILED Synonyms: 221 Similar and Opposite Words

hard-boiled

adjective

ˈhärd-ˈbȯi(-ə)ld

as in ruthless

having or showing a lack of sympathy or tender feelings a hard-boiled Puritan schoolmaster who was as unyielding as New England granite

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in smart

having or showing a practical cleverness or judgment made the hard-boiled business decision to downsize the company, thereby costing thousands of longtime employees their jobs

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of hard-boiled Boiled Placing eggs in boiling water with the shells on is another healthy cooking method that can be used until the yolk is runny (soft-boiled) or fully cooked (hard-boiled). —

Cristina Mutchler, Verywell Health, 29 Jan. 2026 The lenses of deep-sea fish are also especially susceptible to clouding, in the same way that egg whites go from clear to opaque when hard-boiled. —

Literary Hub, 25 Sep. 2025 For lunch or dinner, top a salad with scrambled or hard-boiled eggs. —

Amanda MacMillan, Health, 9 Sep. 2025 In a smaller pot of water over high heat, boil eggs, covered, until just hard-boiled, 7 minutes, then run under cold water. —

Aleksandra Crapanzano, WSJ, 8 Mar. 2023 This is outback noir — oblique, secretive and as hard-boiled as the ground is hard-baked — and Sen wears it well. —

Guy Lodge, Variety, 23 Feb. 2023 As Detective Munch, Mr. Belzer was brainy but hard-boiled, cynical but sensitive. —

Alex Traub, New York Times, 19 Feb. 2023

Recent Examples of Synonyms for hard-boiled

Adjective

Typewriters, stationery, fine-art museums, the quintessential impressionist painter—these are all associated with taste, beauty, and craft, as well as with intentionality and care, the opposite of the ruthless technological efficiency that repels many from generative AI.

— Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 25 Mar. 2026
Even if the film doesn’t co-sign her ideology, Ursula is the most nuanced of the ruthless killers, and Gellar is adept at digging into the character’s ambiguity and shifting priorities.

— Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 20 Mar. 2026