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
• staunch
• healthy
• permanent
• resilient
• stable
• thriving
• flinty
• tenacious
• leathery
• stalwart
• unyielding
• enduring
• tempered
• lasting
• immortal
• fortified
• staying
• muscular
• everlasting
• seasoned
• imperishable
• able-bodied
• stanch
• flourishing
• brawny
• fit
• virile
• annealed
• prospering
• husky
• sound
• 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
• wilful
• willful
• obsessive
• determined
• opinionated
• headstrong
• bullheaded
• hard-nosed
• mulish
• persistent
• pat
• pertinacious
• pigheaded
• strict
• stiff-necked
• 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
• hard-shelled
• 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
• gelled
• encrusted
• incrusted
• crystallized
• caked
• crystalized
• thickened
• callused
• coagulated
• calcified
• gelatinized
• tempered
• jellied
• case-hardened
• petrified
• rigidified
• clotted
• ossified
• jelled
• annealed
• gelated

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• softened
• liquefied
• melted
• liquified
• 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
• vitalized
• reenforced
• accustomed
• immunized
• buttressed
• 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