hard as nails
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It was that he had all the best qualities you’d want in somebody; his heart of gold, and then you couple that with him just being hard as nails and tough, no quit ever.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 9, 2025
On these second-act hits, Tucker was no longer the wild and wise child; she was a full-grown romantic, who managed to be, at the same time, hard as nails.
From The New Yorker • Aug. 23, 2019
As the English say, he was as hard as nails.
From BBC • Mar. 8, 2015
The British interrogators were as hard as nails, and uncompromising in their determination to extract the truth, but they established a concrete rule that no spy should ever be subjected to physical coercion.
From New York Times • Aug. 1, 2012
Ain’t nothing in the world that’ll get you feeling fragile quicker than seeing a growned person you know is hard as nails looking afeared.
From "Elijah of Buxton" by Christopher Paul Curtis
From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
