Synonyms of hardened

hardened 1 of 2

adjective

1

as in sturdy

able to withstand hardship, strain, or exposure

hardened from years of deprivation and grief, the man regarded the house fire as just another misfortune in a life filled with them

Synonyms & Similar Words

• sturdy
• hardy
• strong
• rugged
• tough
• stout
• vigorous
• toughened
• durable
• cast-iron
• hard-bitten
• hard
• inured
• robust
• healthy
• staunch
• permanent
• resilient
• stable
• thriving
• flinty
• tenacious
• leathery
• stalwart
• unyielding
• enduring
• tempered
• lasting
• immortal
• fortified
• staying
• muscular
• everlasting
• seasoned
• imperishable
• able-bodied
• flourishing
• brawny
• fit
• virile
• annealed
• prospering
• sound
• husky
• lusty
• hale
• red-blooded
• strapping

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• weak
• soft
• delicate
• tender
• worn
• weakened
• wasted
• enfeebled
• diseased
• emasculated
• exhausted
• fragile
• crippled
• debilitated
• sensitive
• incapacitated
• vulnerable
• susceptible
• infirm
• unsound
• frail
• nonhardy
• enervated
• puny
• sapped
• temporary
• transient
• worn-out
• yielding
• perishable
• mortal
• run-down
• resistless
• unresistant

2

as in stubborn

sticking to an opinion, purpose, or course of action in spite of reason, arguments, or persuasion

hardened cynics regarded those TV shows as being anything but reality-based

Synonyms & Similar Words

• stubborn
• adamant
• steadfast
• obdurate
• obstinate
• unyielding
• uncompromising
• intransigent
• implacable
• unbending
• ossified
• hardheaded
• dogged
• adamantine
• hard
• immovable
• inflexible
• unrelenting
• headstrong
• bullheaded
• willful
• opinionated
• obsessive
• determined
• hard-nosed
• mulish
• pat
• pertinacious
• persistent
• pigheaded
• stiff-necked
• perverse
• inconvincible
• strict
• relentless
• self-willed
• iron
• rigid
• resolved
• self-opinionated
• tenacious
• deaf to reason
• unflinching
• severe
• wayward
• stern
• hard-line
• defiant
• stouthearted
• wrongheaded
• inexorable
• firm
• cantankerous
• hidebound
• refractory
• recalcitrant
• hard-shell
• intractable
• invincible
• disobedient
• single-minded
• narrow-minded
• uncooperative
• indomitable
• unmanageable
• mutinous
• set
• unconquerable
• confirmed
• contumacious
• cussed
• inveterate
• unruly
• insurgent
• bloody-minded
• insubordinate
• anal-retentive
• unregenerate
• contrary
• ungovernable
• hell-bent
• exacting
• demanding
• froward

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• pliable
• flexible
• compliant
• pliant
• amenable
• acquiescent
• complying
• agreeable
• yielding
• obedient
• docile
• submissive
• tractable
• willing
• responsive
• receptive
• accepting
• reasonable
• manageable
• placable
• relenting
• temperate
• persuadable
• subservient
• slavish
• governable

hardened

2 of 2

verb

past tense of harden

1

as in froze

to become physically firm or solid

the glue begins to harden as soon as it is exposed to air

Synonyms & Similar Words

• froze
• stiffened
• solidified
• indurated
• congealed
• concreted
• firmed (up)
• set
• encrusted
• gelled
• crystallized
• caked
• thickened
• callused
• coagulated
• calcified
• gelatinized
• tempered
• jellied
• case-hardened
• rigidified
• petrified
• clotted
• ossified
• jelled
• annealed
• gelated

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• softened
• liquefied
• melted
• dissolved
• fused
• thawed
• smelted
• fluxed
• deliquesced
• unfroze

2

as in strengthened

to make able to withstand physical hardship, strain, or exposure

pioneer women who had been hardened by years of living on the plains

Synonyms & Similar Words

• strengthened
• fortified
• toughened
• inured
• steeled
• indurated
• adjusted
• seasoned
• adapted
• reinforced
• tempered
• bolstered
• braced
• annealed
• acclimated
• enforced
• invigorated
• acclimatized
• accustomed
• immunized
• buttressed
• vitalized
• conditioned
• trained
• supported
• habituated
• broke in
• propped (up)
• boosted
• naturalized
• forearmed
• limbered (up)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• softened
• weakened
• exhausted
• sapped
• crippled
• incapacitated
• sensitized
• enfeebled
• emasculated
• enervated
• debilitated
• hamstrung

3

as in toughened

to increase the ability of (as a muscle) to exert physical force

arm muscles that were hardened by all the years of casting and hauling his fishing nets

Synonyms & Similar Words

• strengthened
• toughened
• fortified
• tempered
• beefed (up)
• annealed
• energized
• invigorated
• vitalized
• firmed (up)
• toned (up)
• restrengthened

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• weakened
• crippled
• damaged
• hurt
• paralyzed
• injured
• impaired
• incapacitated
• enfeebled
• harmed
• debilitated
• enervated
• undermined
• broke down
• undercut
• wore out
• sapped

4

as in stiffened

to make more harsh, uncompromising, or severe

the government hardened restrictions on travel to and from the war-torn nation

Synonyms & Similar Words

• stiffened
• strengthened
• toughened
• harshened

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• eased
• softened
• lessened
• ameliorated
• moderated

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of hardened

Adjective

Under the shadow of a red Force Recon Association hat and tinted glasses, Capers’ eyes wore a hardened look that made no effort to hide the darkness and despair that gripped him at that moment. — Ethan Rocke, Charlotte Observer, 20 Aug. 2026

North Korean military engineers—renowned for building massive subterranean installations—also helped Iran design and construct hardened missile silos, underground networks, and nuclear facility bunkers. — Charlie Campbell, Time, 17 Aug. 2026

The company under the most commercial pressure to ship its next model just told the market that the model may be able to break into hardened systems on its own. — Jon Markman, Forbes.com, 9 Aug. 2026

Graham's kind is the common one, driven by age, blood pressure, and hardened arteries. — Dr. Céline Gounder, CBS News, 13 July 2026

If your engine still has original, non-hardened valve seats and is driven under load or at highway speeds, using a lead substitute additive can help reduce valve seat wear. — John Paul Senior Manager Public Affairs and Traffic Safety Aaa Northeast, Hartford Courant, 11 July 2026

Rather than tackling hardened residue with every scrubbing tool in your arsenal, most upkeep becomes a quick spray-and-leave step from a standing position. — Caroline Lubinsky, Martha Stewart, 11 July 2026

In the afterglow of the evening, even hardened cynics couldn't deny that being admired by millions is no substitute for being loved by one. — Bryan West, USA Today, 7 July 2026

Iran is burying it, which no other country in the world does, hundreds of feet underground, under hardened military infrastructure. — NBC news, 7 July 2026

Verb

After surviving a ferocious first half to trail only 13-12, the All Blacks' resolve hardened by new coach Dave Rennie and age-old ability to produce something from nothing turned a tense contest into a rout by five tries to South Africa's one. — ABC News, 22 Aug. 2026

Institutional indifference and erasure Fast forward to today, and that defensive posture has hardened into absolute institutional erasure. — Kimmie Gordon, Chicago Tribune, 22 Aug. 2026

Khalid, the eldest son, then in his early twenties, hardened under the pressure to take care of his family. — Rozina Ali, New Yorker, 21 Aug. 2026

Positions have hardened, trust has weakened and the room for quiet resolution has narrowed. — Sean Pattwell, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026

Notably, Shaun has been hardened and disenfranchised by the bureaucracy of law enforcement. — Keith Langston, PEOPLE, 12 Aug. 2026

The early search web was an experimental stage where the rules had not hardened, and the feedback loop between publishers and engines was still manageable and easier to test and interpret. — Alan Bradley, ArsTechnica, 7 Aug. 2026

King has been hardened by years on the streets and Etna seems traumatized having endured mass violence, left an isolated refugee after nearly all the humans and dogs in his unit perish. — Literary Hub, 5 Aug. 2026

Yet the hatred of Dulles—so absolute in its consensus—reminds me of other ways in which our culture has hardened. — Adrienne Lafrance, The Atlantic, 2 Aug. 2026