Word.ws English Dictionary

hardened

Syllables: hard·ened/ˈhɑːdn̩d/US/ˈhɑɹd(ə)nd/

hardened is the simple past and past participle of harden.

Adjective

hardened (comparative more hardened, superlative most hardened)

  1. Made physically hard.
    • hardened steel
  2. Having been accustomed or desensitized to something unpleasant through exposure or experience; inured.
    • hardened police officers
  3. Unfeeling; pitiless; callous.
    • The bloody scene could reduce even the most hardened soldier to tears.
    • In the past, Lutao was considered somewhat mysterious, because of the national penitentiary which housed the most hardened criminals, and the restrictions on travel to the island, which have since been loosened.1983 April 17, “Progress for Green Island”, in 自由中國週報 [Free China Weekly], volume XXIV, number 15, Taipei, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 2, column 3
  4. Firmly established in a behavior seen as bad; unlikely to change one's ways; inveterate.
    • hardened criminals
  5. Having extra defences against attack; highly fortified.
    • a hardened air base
    • a hardened server

Meaning of harden

Verb

harden (third-person singular simple present hardens, present participle hardening, simple past and past participle hardened)

  1. (intransitive) To become hard.
    • The Chief Medical Officer of London Transport believes that public opinion against smoking will harden to the point of a total bar on the Underground, as in other countries.1959 May, “Accommodation for Non-Smokers”, in Railway Magazine, pages 295-296
  2. (ergative, transitive) To make something hard or harder.
  3. (figuratively, transitive) To strengthen.
    • In view of the system's relatively low cost, the preferred alternative could be for the military user to avail himself of multiple base stations rather than seeking to harden the base station hardware for defense applications.2002, Jane's International Defense Review, volume 35
  4. (transitive) To modify (a website or other system) to make it resistant to malicious attacks.
  5. (ambitransitive) To become or make (a person or thing) resistant or less sensitive.
    • (obs.)
    Synonyms:
    inure, roborate
  6. (informal, intransitive) To get an erection.
    • He hardened as he imagined himself running his hands over her small breasts1999 August 2, Karen Mitchell, “Files from the Feminet BBS NOVAD5.TXT 38.38 KB”, in alt.sex.stories.tg (Usenet)

See all 12 meanings of harden

Synonyms of hardened

27 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Forms of hardened

Verb
alternative form (obsolete)harden'd
Adjective
comparativemore hardened
superlativemost hardened

Words formed from hardened

Phrases with hardened

Questions about hardened

What does hardened mean?
Hardened means made physically hard.
What is hardened the simple past and past participle of?
Hardened is the simple past and past participle of harden.
What part of speech is hardened?
Hardened is an adjective.
How do you pronounce hardened?
Hardened is pronounced /ˈhɑːdn̩d/ (UK).

Words near hardened in the dictionary

  1. hardenabilities
  2. hardenability
  3. hardenable
  4. Hardenberg
  5. Hardendale
  6. hardened
  7. hardened one's neck
  8. hardened someone's heart
  9. hardened up
  10. hardener
  11. hardeners

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: hardened (page history and authors); harden (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-hardened.wav.

Cite this entry: “hardened.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/hardened. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.