hard-shell

adjective

variants or hard-shelled
Definition of hard-shellnext
as in hard-line

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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-shell The hard-shell design helps protect belongings while remaining comfortable to carry and maneuver. — New Atlas, 22 June 2026 Modern restaurant menus, with the familiar enchiladas and tamales and hard-shell tacos, can resemble Tex-Mex, but never say that to a New Mexican local. — Bill Addison, Los Angeles Times, 12 May 2026 Since many bags share the same characteristics (think a black, medium-sized, hard-shell suitcase, for example), listing any unique attributes will help. — Bailey Berg, Travel + Leisure, 16 Apr. 2026 Since the seeds are hard-shelled, germination often requires scarification, that is, weakening of the seeds’ coats by an exterior force in order to encourage water absorption. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 25 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for hard-shell
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hard-shell
  1. hard-line
  2. persistent
  3. tenacious
  4. stern
  5. rigid
  6. steadfast
  7. relentless
  8. severe
Adjective
  • This has left many wondering how much of this hard-line approach might change if Gadi Eisenkot, the veteran military official who is running ahead of Netanyahu in the polls, manages to defeat him.
    — Amos Harel, Foreign Affairs, 2 Sep. 2026
  • That post went to Hossein Taeb, a hard-line cleric and longtime intelligence chief who led one of the first major crackdowns on protests, in 2009.
    — Lee Keath, Fortune, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of hard-line
Adjective
  • This reality, intensified by persistent inflation, is why the 60/30/10 budgeting method has been rising in popularity.
    — Becca Stanek, TheWeek, 7 Sep. 2026
  • Now, experts fear a persistent failure is colliding with a rapid expansion of immigration enforcement — one pushed to deliver record numbers of arrests, increasingly aided by state and local police and operating with fewer internal checks.
    — María Luisa Paúl, USA Today, 6 Sep. 2026
Definition of persistent
Adjective
  • Part of the frustration and fascination of these climbing docs is that the filmmakers can never quite answer the question of why these people — tenacious, but undoubtedly masochistic — carry on and up the mountain again and again.
    — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 3 Sep. 2026
  • That day in the spring brought the work of several tenacious investigators – with the assist of genetic genealogy – closer to identifying the remains.
    — Taylor Romine, CNN Money, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of tenacious
Adjective
  • Khan himself stars as the outwardly stern but inwardly soft-hearted Etienne, who heads up the dozen-strong medical team.
    — Miriam Balanescu, IndieWire, 4 Sep. 2026
  • The almost 1,100-foot-long warship was covered in rust from bow to stern.
    — Brad Lendon, CNN Money, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of stern
Adjective
  • There has been a widespread opinion that football has become too rigid and regimented in recent seasons, but Luis Enrique’s PSG are one of the few antidotes to that.
    — Art de Roché, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026
  • Unlike its competitors, Hermès is a pre-haute-couture enterprise, founded before the rigid bureaucracy of French fashion was put into place, in the eighteen-sixties, with the establishment of a governing syndicate.
    — Lauren Collins, New Yorker, 7 Sep. 2026
Definition of rigid
Adjective
  • The cigar lounge was steadfast in Sundance Square throughout Covid and the ever-changing business scene downtown.
    — Ella Gonzales, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 4 Sep. 2026
  • By the end of the primary, Moulton had apologized for his November 2024 remarks — and Markey’s steadfast support for trans rights was part of his re-election argument.
    — David Weigel, semafor.com, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of steadfast
Adjective
  • The problem is that the action becomes so relentless, so explicitly gory, that a bad aftertaste sets in.
    — Frank Scheck, HollywoodReporter, 2 Sep. 2026
  • As for Jang Geon-young, the relentless prosecutor at the center of Season 1, his fate is left as a mystery.
    — Ophélie Surcouf, Variety, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of relentless
Adjective
  • Another flagger, not publicly identified, suffered severe head trauma in 2024 after he was hit by an out-of-service F train in Brooklyn.
    — Evan Simko-Bednarski, New York Daily News, 6 Sep. 2026
  • Five people were killed, three critically injured and two others hospitalized with less severe injuries, Miami-Dade County officials told a news conference.
    — Anthony Izaguirre, Chicago Tribune, 6 Sep. 2026
Definition of severe

Browse Nearby Words

hardscrabble
hard-shell
hardship
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Cite this Entry

“Hard-shell.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hard-shell. Accessed 9 Sep. 2026.

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