hardboiled

Adjective

hard-boiled (comparative more hard-boiled, superlative most hard-boiled)

1. Of a boiled egg, cooked to a solid consistency.

   Antonyms:

   runny, soft-boiled

2. (figuratively) Of a person, especially a detective, callous and unsentimental.
   • He told me afterward that he tried to find his folks and square himself—and maybe it was the truth—but some of the hard-boiled townspeople found him, instead, and he had a running fight all the way to the depot.1916 March 11, Charles E. Van Loan, “His Folks”, in Saturday Evening Post

   Synonyms:

   harsh, severe, brutal, callous, cold, insensate, hardhanded, cold-eyed, cruel, dour

3. (figuratively, especially detective fiction) Written in a laconic, dispassionate, often ironic style for a realistic, unsentimental effect.