hard
adjective/hɑːrd/
(comparative harder, superlative hardest)
Слово англійською: hard
Переклад hard українською: важко
Детальний опис
- difficult to do, understand or answer
- a hard choice/decision/question
- hard to do something It is hard to believe that she's only nine.
- It's hard to see how they can lose.
- It's hard to imagine a more cynical political strategy.
- ‘When will the job be finished?’ ‘It's hard to say (= it is difficult to be certain)’ .
- It's getting harder and harder to earn enough to pay the rent.
- I find his attitude very hard to take (= difficult to accept).
- We're finding reliable staff hard to come by (= difficult to get).
- Houses like this are extremely hard to find.
- You are hard to please, aren’t you?
- I found it hard to believe what they told me.
- hard for somebody It must be hard for her, bringing up four children on her own.
- hard for somebody to do something It's hard for old people to change their ways.
- full of difficulty and problems, especially because of a lack of money synonym tough
- Times were hard at the end of the war.
- She's had a hard life.
- Life got very hard.
- Conditions were extremely hard in the camps.
- needing or using a lot of physical strength or mental effort
- It's hard work shovelling snow.
- This is the hardest part of my job.
- It was one of the hardest things I ever did.
- I've had a long hard day.
- This season has been a hard slog.
- They had put in hours of hard graft.
Synonyms difficultdifficulthard ▪ challenging ▪ demanding ▪ taxingThese words all describe something that is not easy and requires a lot of effort or skill to do.difficult not easy; needing effort or skill to do or to understand:- The exam questions were quite difficult.
- It is difficult for young people to find jobs around here.
- I always found languages quite hard at school.
- It was one of the hardest things I ever did.
- It is a technically demanding piece of music to play.
- This shouldn’t be too taxing for you.
- difficult/hard/challenging/demanding/taxing for somebody
- difficult/hard to do something
- physically difficult/hard/challenging/demanding/taxing
- technically difficult/challenging/demanding
- mentally/intellectually challenging/demanding/taxing
- (of people) putting a lot of effort or energy into an activity
- She's a very hard worker.
- He's hard at work on a new novel.
- When I left they were all still hard at it (= working hard).
- done with a lot of strength or force
- He gave the door a good hard kick.
- a hard punch
- solid or stiff and difficult to bend or break
- Wait for the concrete to go hard.
- a hard mattress
- Diamonds are the hardest known mineral.
- showing no kind feelings or sympathy
- My father was a hard man.
- She gave me a hard stare.
- His voice was hard.
- He said some very hard things to me.
- (informal) (of people) showing no signs of fear or weakness; ready to fight or compete synonym tough (4)
- Come and get me if you think you're hard enough.
- You think you're really hard, don't you?
- He's as hard and uncompromising as any professional sportsman.
- [only before noun] definitely true and based on information that can be proved
- Is there any hard evidence either way?
- The newspaper story is based on hard facts.
- very cold and severe
- It had been a hard winter.
- There was a hard frost that night.
- [only before noun] strongly alcoholic
- hard liquor
- (informal) a drop of the hard stuff (= a strong alcoholic drink)
- containing calcium and other mineral salts that make mixing with soap difficult
- a hard water area
- Our water is very hard.
- (phonetics) used to describe a letter c or g when pronounced as in ‘cat’ or ‘go’, rather than as in ‘city’ or ‘giant’ opposite soft
difficult
needing/using effort
solid/stiff
without sympathy
not afraid
facts/evidence
weather
drink
water
consonants
Word OriginOld English hard, heard, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch hard and German hart.
Idioms
be hard on somebody/something
- to treat or criticize somebody in a very severe or strict way
- Don't be too hard on him—he's very young.
- to be difficult for or unfair to somebody/something
- It's hard on people who don't have a car.
- to be likely to hurt or damage something
- Looking at a computer screen all day can be very hard on the eyes.
(caught/stuck) between a rock and a hard place
- in a situation where you have to choose between two things, both of which are unpleasant
drive/strike a hard bargain
- to argue in an aggressive way and force somebody to agree on the best possible price or arrangementTopics Discussion and agreementc2
give somebody a hard time
- to deliberately make a situation difficult and unpleasant for somebody
- They really gave me a hard time at the interview.
hard and fast
- (especially after a negative) that cannot be changed in any circumstances
- There are no hard and fast rules about this.
- This situation isn’t hard and fast.
(as) hard as nails
- showing no fear, sympathy or kind behaviour
hard cheese
- (British English, informal) used as a way of saying that you are sorry about something, usually ironically (= you really mean the opposite)
hard going
- difficult to understand or needing a lot of effort
- I'm finding his latest novel very hard going.
hard luck
- (British English) used to tell somebody that you feel sorry for them
- ‘Failed again, I'm afraid.’ ‘Oh, hard luck.’
a hard/tough nut (to crack)
- a difficult problem or situation to deal with
a hard/tough act to follow
- a person or event that is so good or successful at something that it will be difficult for anyone/anything else coming after them to be as good or successful
- She has been an excellent principal and will be a hard act to follow.
- Their contribution will prove a tough act to follow.
the hard way
- by having an unpleasant experience or by making mistakes
- She won't listen to my advice so she'll just have to learn the hard way.
- He learned about the dangers of drugs the hard way.
have a (hard/difficult) job doing/to do something
- to have difficulty doing something
- You'll have a job convincing them that you're right.
- He had a hard job to make himself heard.
Extra ExamplesTopics Difficulty and failurec2- She'll have a tough job getting the team into shape in time.
- It's very dark out there—you'll have a job to see anything.
make hard work of something
- to use more time or energy on a task than is necessary
no hard feelings
- used after you have been arguing with somebody or have beaten them in a contest but you would still like to be friendly with them
- It looks like I'm the winner again. No hard feelings, Dave, eh?
- Someone has to lose. No hard feelings, eh?
play hard to get
- (informal) to make yourself seem more attractive or interesting by not immediately accepting an invitation to do something
take a long (cool/hard) look at something
- to consider a problem or possibility very carefully and without hurrying
- We need to take a long, hard look at all the options.
too much like hard work
- needing too much effort
- I can't be bothered making a hot meal—it's too much like hard work.