HARDENING Synonyms: 100 Similar and Opposite Words

hardening

verb

Definition of hardening next

present participle of harden

as in freezing

to become physically firm or solid the glue begins to harden as soon as it is exposed to air

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as in strengthening

to make able to withstand physical hardship, strain, or exposure pioneer women who had been hardened by years of living on the plains

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as in toughening

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

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as in stiffening

to make more harsh, uncompromising, or severe the government hardened restrictions on travel to and from the war-torn nation

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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 hardening Enterprises that spent years hardening endpoints, strengthening identity controls and building sophisticated security operations centers are now layering AI capabilities on top of existing environments without adapting the controls needed to govern them securely. —

Emil Sayegh, Forbes.com, 1 June 2026 Dark lunar maria are visible sprawling across the moon's surface, where lava once rose to the surface before hardening to form enormous basaltic plains. —

Anthony Wood, Space.com, 1 June 2026 Entergy New Orleans, the city’s main electric utility, has an accelerated grid-hardening plan that aims to replace existing utility poles with more fortified poles to withstand higher winds and selectively move some lines underground in high-risk areas. —

Fangxing Fran Li, The Conversation, 27 May 2026 Clinker consists predominantly of calcium silicate minerals known as alite and belite, compounds largely responsible for cement’s strength and hardening behavior. —

New Atlas, 26 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for hardening

Recent Examples of Synonyms for hardening

Verb

The global index provider extended Indonesia’s status as an emerging market after freezing the country’s stocks in its indexes in January, citing investability concerns.

— Justina Lee, CNBC, 24 June 2026
To prevent that, some operators maintain low oil flow rates, akin to dripping a faucet in freezing cold weather to avoid frozen pipes.

— David Goldman, CNN Money, 24 June 2026