hard-boiled

1. 1.

   tough and callous by virtue of experience

   Synonymshard-bittenpugnacious

   Similartough
2. 2.

   used of persons; emotionally hardened

   “faced a case-hardened judge”

   Synonymscase-hardenedhardened

   Similarhard
3. 3.

   (eggs) cooked until the yolk is solid

   Similarcooked

Questions about hard-boiled

What does hard-boiled mean?

hard-boiled means "tough and callous by virtue of experience". That is the primary sense; the word has 3 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in hard-boiled?

hard-boiled has 2 syllables: hard--boiled. The stress falls on "hard-".

What is another word for hard-boiled?

Close synonyms include hard-bitten, pugnacious, case-hardened, hardened. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is hard-boiled a common word?

hard-boiled is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.