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

Amid statues and posters of the Virgen de Guadalupe was a rosary that a man had made of hardened bread during his months in an immigration detention facility. — Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 3 Sep. 2026

After spending 19 years in prison for stealing a loaf of bread, Jean Valjean is being released a hardened man. — Leo Barraclough, Variety, 31 Aug. 2026

The cold temperature and the snap of the hardened chocolate really elevates the whole experience. — Francesca Krempa, Bon Appetit Magazine, 31 Aug. 2026

The water alone will create steam in the microwave, softening any hardened debris. — Kate Van Pelt, The Spruce, 29 Aug. 2026

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

Verb

The decision to invade emanated from within the political order Putin has fashioned, a system that has been hardened by the war more than it has been transformed. — Michael Kimmage, Foreign Affairs, 14 Sep. 2026

However, the fluidity of his exploration is hardened early on, thanks to a tedious focus on hitting the same beats with little variety or escalation. — Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 13 Sep. 2026

Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is facing a tight contest for a Senate seat, also hardened his stance against data centers recently. — Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune, 5 Sep. 2026

The rare trip by CIA chief John Ratcliffe failed to persuade Putin to stop the war and may have hardened the Russian’s leaders resolve to seek military victory. — Catherine Belton, Washington Post, 4 Sep. 2026

What Assange wanted was not a system hardened against attacks, but one tied in knots, hopelessly conflicted and filled with suspicion, denunciations, and purges. — Finn Brunton, Harpers Magazine, 1 Sep. 2026

Instead of breaking him, Duncan said the brutal conditions hardened his resolve to keep fighting. — Richard A. Webster, ProPublica, 31 Aug. 2026

This is to help chocolate layer not stick to sides when later hardened. — ABC News, 29 Aug. 2026

The win-now mindset is underlined by the signing of Bruno Guimaraes from Newcastle and Ezri Konsa from Aston Villa, two 28-year-olds already battle-hardened by the Premier League. — Jordan Campbell, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2026