hard-boiled

adjective

ˈhärd-ˈbȯi(-ə)ld 

1

of an egg : boiled until both white and yolk have solidified

2

a

: devoid of sentimentality : tough

a hard-boiled drill sergeant

b

: of, relating to, or being a detective story featuring a tough unsentimental protagonist and a matter-of-fact attitude towards violence

3

: hardheaded, practical

hard-boiled business decisions

Did you know?

As a writer of local color, Mark Twain often used colloquialisms and regionalisms that were unfamiliar to many of his readers. When some of these expressions eventually caught on in the language at large, they were traced back to Twain. For example, he is credited with the first printed use of blow up ("to lose self-control") in 1871, of slop ("effusive sentimentality") in 1866, and of the phrase sweat out ("to endure or wait through the course of") in 1876. Hard-boiled is documented as being first used by Twain in 1886 as an adjective meaning "emotionally hardened." Apparently, Twain and others saw the boiling of an egg to harden the white and yolk as a metaphor for other kinds of hardening.

Synonyms

• affectless
• callous
• case-hardened
• cold-blooded
• compassionless
• desensitized
• hard
• hard-hearted
• heartless
• indurate
• inhuman
• inhumane
• insensate
• insensitive
• ironhearted
• merciless
• obdurate
• pachydermatous
• pitiless
• remorseless
• ruthless
• slash-and-burn
• soulless
• stony
• stoney
• stonyhearted
• take-no-prisoners
• thick-skinned
• uncharitable
• unfeeling
• unmerciful
• unsparing
• unsympathetic

Examples of hard-boiled in a Sentence

a hard-boiled Puritan schoolmaster who was as unyielding as New England granite

made the hard-boiled business decision to downsize the company, thereby costing thousands of longtime employees their jobs

Recent Examples on the Web

In a smaller pot of water over high heat, boil eggs, covered, until just hard-boiled, 7 minutes, then run under cold water. —Aleksandra Crapanzano, WSJ, 8 Mar. 2023

For lunch or dinner, top a salad with scrambled or hard-boiled eggs. —Amanda MacMillan, Health, 1 Mar. 2023

This is outback noir — oblique, secretive and as hard-boiled as the ground is hard-baked — and Sen wears it well. —Guy Lodge, Variety, 23 Feb. 2023

As Detective Munch, Mr. Belzer was brainy but hard-boiled, cynical but sensitive. —Alex Traub, New York Times, 19 Feb. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1589, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

hard-boiled

adjective

-ˈbȯild

1

: boiled until both white and yolk have become solid

hard-boiled eggs

2

: lacking tender feelings : tough

a hard-boiled prison guard