| Main Entry: | |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | tough |
| Synonyms: | callous, firm, hard as nails, hard-line, hard-nosed, hard-shelled, headstrong, inflexible, obdurate, obstinate, rough, stern, strict, unbending, unfeeling |
| Main Entry: | callous |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | cruel, insensitive |
| Synonyms: | apathetic, blind to, careless, case-hardened, cold, cold-blooded, deaf to, hard, hard-bitten, hard-boiled, hardened, hardhearted, heartless, impassive, impenitent, indifferent, indurated, inflexible, insensate, insensible, insensitive, insentient, inured, obdurate, soulless, spiritless, stiff, stony, stubborn, thick-skinned, torpid, tough, toughened, unaffected, unbending, uncaring, uncompassionate, unconcerned, unfeeling, unimpressionable, unresponsive, unsusceptible, unsympathetic |
| Notes: | callus is a hard patch of skin; callous is an adjective meaning 'indifferent to suffering' or 'hardened' |
| Antonyms: | compassionate, feeling, kind, nice, sensitive, sympathetic, tender |
| Main Entry: | cold-blooded |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | cruel, heartless |
| Synonyms: | barbarous, brutal, callous, cold, dispassionate, hard-boiled, hard-hearted, hardened, imperturbable, inhuman, matter-of-fact, merciless, obdurate, pitiless, relentless, ruthless, savage, steely, stony-hearted, uncompassionate, unemotional, unfeeling, unmoved |
| Notes: | cold-blooded (poikilothermic, poikilothermal) is used for creatures whose blood takes on the temperature of their environment; warm-blooded (homoiothermic, homeothermal) is having a fairly steady body temperature governed by the thermotaxic nerve mechanism |
| Antonyms: | compassionate, demonstrative, feeling, friendly, merciful, nice, sympathetic, warm-blooded |
| Main Entry: | earthy |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | unsophisticated |
| Synonyms: | bawdy, coarse, crude, down, down home, down-to-earth, dull, easygoing, folksy, funky*, hard-boiled, home folk, homely, homey, indelicate, lowbred, lusty, mundane, natural, pragmatic, ribald, robust, rough, simple, unidealistic, uninhibited, unrefined |
| Notes: | earthy is 'similar to earth; hearty' or 'coarse, vulgar' while earthly is 'pertaining to human existence on earth'; earthen means 'made of earth or clay' |
| Antonyms: | cultured, elegant, refined, sophisticated |
| Main Entry: | hard |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | cruel, ruthless |
| Synonyms: | acrimonious, angry, antagonistic, austere, bitter, bleak, brutal, callous, cold, cold fish, cold-blooded, dark, disagreeable, distressing, dour, exacting, grievous, grim, hard as nails, hard-boiled, harsh, hostile, inclement, intemperate, intolerable, obdurate, painful, perverse, pitiless, rancorous, resentful, rigorous, rugged, severe, stern, strict, stringent, stubborn, thick-skinned, tough, unfeeling, unjust, unkind, unpleasant, unrelenting, unsparing, unsympathetic, vengeful |
| Antonyms: | merciful, mild, nice, pleasant, sensitive, sympathetic |
| Main Entry: | hardened |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | unfeeling |
| Synonyms: | accustomed, benumbed, callous, case-hardened, coldhearted, contemptuous, cruel, disdainful, habituated, hard-as-nails, hard-bitten, hard-boiled, hardhearted, heartless, impenetrable, impious, inaccessible, indurated, inured, irreverent, obdurate, obtuse, prepared, resistant, seasoned, steeled, toughened, unashamed, unbending, uncaring, uncompassionate, unemotional, unrepenting, unsubmissive |
| Antonyms: | compassionate, feeling, kind, nice, sympathetic |
| Main Entry: | hardhearted |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | cold, cruel |
| Synonyms: | brutish, callous, cold-blooded, coldhearted, hard, hard-boiled, heartless, indifferent, inhuman, insensitive, intolerant, merciless, obdurate, pitiless, stony, uncaring, uncompassionate, unemotional, unfeeling, unkind, unsympathetic |
| Antonyms: | compassionate, kind, nice, softhearted, warm |
| Main Entry: | hard-line |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | firm |
| Synonyms: | adamant, hard-boiled, hard-core, hard-nosed, inflexible, militant, stand pat, staunch, steadfast, stern, stiff, strict, unbending, uncompromising, ungiving, unyielding |
| Main Entry: | hard-nosed/hardheaded |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | stubborn |
| Synonyms: | astute, bullheaded, hard*, hard-boiled, headstrong, intractable, levelheaded, locked in, mulish, obstinate, pertinacious, perverse, pigheaded, practical, pragmatic, rational, realistic, resolute, sensible, shrewd, sober, stand pat, tough, tough-nut, unsentimental, unyielding, willful |
| Antonyms: | easy, easy-going, laid-back, merciful |