Synonyms of hardening

hardening

verb

present participle of harden

1

as in freezing

to become physically firm or solid

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• freezing
• stiffening
• solidifying
• congealing
• concreting
• firming (up)
• setting
• thickening
• indurating
• gelling
• crystallizing
• caking
• encrusting
• coagulating
• tempering
• gelatinizing
• jellying
• clotting
• rigidifying
• ossifying
• callusing
• calcifying
• jelling
• annealing
• petrifying
• case-hardening
• gelating

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• softening
• liquefying
• melting
• thawing
• dissolving
• smelting
• fusing
• fluxing
• unfreezing
• deliquescing

2

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• strengthening
• toughening
• fortifying
• inuring
• adjusting
• steeling
• seasoning
• reinforcing
• adapting
• bolstering
• tempering
• indurating
• bracing
• annealing
• enforcing
• acclimating
• vitalizing
• acclimatizing
• invigorating
• immunizing
• conditioning
• buttressing
• accustoming
• boosting
• supporting
• training
• habituating
• propping (up)
• breaking in
• naturalizing
• limbering (up)
• forearming

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• softening
• weakening
• exhausting
• sapping
• crippling
• enervating
• debilitating
• incapacitating
• sensitizing
• enfeebling
• emasculating
• hamstringing

3

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• strengthening
• toughening
• fortifying
• tempering
• beefing (up)
• annealing
• energizing
• vitalizing
• invigorating
• firming (up)
• toning (up)
• restrengthening

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• weakening
• crippling
• debilitating
• damaging
• hurting
• impairing
• paralyzing
• injuring
• incapacitating
• harming
• enervating
• enfeebling
• undermining
• breaking down
• undercutting
• wearing out
• sapping

4

as in stiffening

to make more harsh, uncompromising, or severe

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• strengthening
• stiffening
• toughening
• harshening

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• easing
• softening
• lessening
• ameliorating
• moderating

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of hardening

Matt Pender is the vice president of undergrounding and system hardening for PG&E. — Brady Halbleib, CBS News, 7 Nov. 2026

The October run identified 948, more than five times as many, despite three months of additional kernel hardening. — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 5 Nov. 2026

But hardening schools and practicing lockdown drills, among other steps to reduce school shootings, are not making young people feel safer. — Nina Vinik, Chicago Tribune, 27 Oct. 2026

Residents, meanwhile, can give firefighters the best shot at stopping a potential disaster by clearing flammable vegetation in their yards and fire-hardening their homes. — Noah Haggerty, Los Angeles Times, 22 Oct. 2026

The process, called cured-in-place pipe lining, involves inserting a flexible liner into the old pipe, inflating it and hardening it in place. — Nicole Buss, Sacbee.com, 22 Oct. 2026

The result, DiStefano said, is homeowners who spend tens of thousands of dollars hardening their houses and still get non-renewed. — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 15 Oct. 2026

Governments around the world are hardening their AI stances as more agentic hacks breach critical systems. — J.d. Capelouto, semafor.com, 7 Oct. 2026

Nearly all Senate Democrats voted to require the State Department to report on Israeli settler violence in the West Bank, in a continuing sign of the party’s hardening stance toward Israel. — Noah Robertson, Washington Post, 30 Sep. 2026