hard-nosed

1. 1.

   guided by practical experience and observation rather than theory

   “a hardheaded appraisal of our position”

   “a hard-nosed labor leader”

   “completely practical in his approach to business”

   “not ideology but pragmatic politics”

   Synonymshardheadedpracticalpragmatic

   Similarrealistic

Questions about hard-nosed

What does hard-nosed mean?

hard-nosed means "guided by practical experience and observation rather than theory".

How many syllables are in hard-nosed?

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

What is another word for hard-nosed?

Close synonyms include hardheaded, practical, pragmatic. 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-nosed a common word?

hard-nosed 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.