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
• hard
• ossified
• hardheaded
• dogged
• adamantine
• immovable
• inflexible
• unrelenting
• obsessive
• willful
• determined
• headstrong
• opinionated
• bullheaded
• hard-nosed
• mulish
• persistent
• pat
• pertinacious
• pigheaded
• stiff-necked
• strict
• perverse
• inconvincible
• relentless
• iron
• self-willed
• rigid
• resolved
• self-opinionated
• tenacious
• deaf to reason
• severe
• unflinching
• stern
• wayward
• defiant
• hard-line
• stouthearted
• firm
• wrongheaded
• inexorable
• 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

Some years later John emerges, hardened and singularly focused on revenge. — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 25 July 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

Follow these steps to get rid of hardened residue, odors, and germs, and learn how to make outdoor trash cans a little less yucky. — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 3 July 2026

Hauser played hardened ranch foreman Rip Wheeler on the Paramount Network series that ran from 2018 to 2024. — Brayden Garcia, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 1 July 2026

Verb

As speeds increased and night driving became routine, these simple visibility requirements gradually hardened into the more technical headlight regulations that shaped modern automotive lighting design. — Matthew MacConnell, ArsTechnica, 3 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

Some of the caged cats were held fast in feces that had hardened like concrete. — Natasha Holt, FOXNews.com, 1 Aug. 2026

As the site became bigger and more prominent, expectations hardened. — Carson Griffith, New Yorker, 30 July 2026

In the meantime, the less polished but battle-hardened Ethereum will emerge yet again as the more sensible software layer to power the next era of financial innovation. — Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, 27 July 2026

As many Americans have soured on the country in the wake of its brutal campaign in Gaza, Maher’s views have only hardened. — Aidan McLaughlin, Vanity Fair, 23 July 2026

Supply routes have shifted permanently, new commercial relationships have hardened, and every government in Europe has absorbed the lesson of what concentrated hydrocarbon dependence costs. — Ariel Cohen, Forbes.com, 21 July 2026

However, only plaque that’s hardened your arteries, leading to a condition called atherosclerosis, shows up on that scan. — Abby Norman, Verywell Health, 20 July 2026