Word.ws English Dictionary

hardline

UK/ˈhɑːdlaɪn/US/ˈhɑɹdlaɪn/

hardline noun: a retail product collection consisting primarily of hardware targeting the do-it-yourself customer.

Noun

hardline (plural hardlines)

  1. A retail product collection consisting primarily of hardware targeting the do-it-yourself customer.
    • The Hardlines Digest is an Internet mailing list for members of the retail hardware and home center industry.2002, John Cornell III, Hardlines FAQ (live original), Hardlines Digest
  2. A retail product collection which includes many non-information goods, such as home appliances, housewares, and sporting goods, in addition to the DIY hardware which is the focus of the first definition, above.
    • Comparable-store sales in hardlines declined in the mid single-digit range, with the strongest performance in sporting goods.2010, Staff, Target June Comps "Relatively Soft" - Update (live original), RTTNews
  3. A physical wire or cable connection; landline.

Adjective

hardline (not comparable)

  1. Uncompromising; rigidly holding to a set of beliefs.
    • Smith's hardline approach to drugs gained him the support of many local citizens.
    • To come up with common, honorable, flexible, sensible, creative, meaningful, non-coercive "codes" or expectations of ethical behavior while avoiding laying down hard-line, guilt-inspiring "politically correct" rules and superficial judgements is no small feat.1979, Alix Dobkins, Adventures in Women's Music
  2. Belonging to a hardline.
    • hardline product
    • Safety, product quality and performance are prerequisites for all hardline products such as toys, cosmetics, furniture, jewellery, DIY, etc.2010, Hardline Services by SGS (live page), SGS Group

Forms of hardline

pluralhardlines
alternative formhard line
alternative formhard-line

Origin of hardline

From hard + line.

Words formed from hardline

Questions about hardline

What does hardline mean?
Hardline means a retail product collection consisting primarily of hardware targeting the do-it-yourself customer.
What part of speech is hardline?
Hardline can be a noun or an adjective.
How do you pronounce hardline?
Hardline is pronounced /ˈhɑːdlaɪn/ (UK).
What is the plural of hardline?
The plural of hardline is hardlines.

Words near hardline in the dictionary

  1. Hardistys
  2. hardkill
  3. Hardley
  4. hardlier
  5. hardliest
  6. hardline
  7. hardliner
  8. hardliners
  9. hardlines
  10. hardlink
  11. hardlinks

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: hardline (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.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-hardline.ogg.

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