hard-boiled en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- (Southern-England) audio
Meanings
- Of a boiled egg, cooked to a solid consistency.
-
(figuratively) Of a person, especially a detective, callous and unsentimental.
Christ, maybe that blond was only a bitch after all. Maybe she put out even to the punks. Come to think of it, she looked a little hard-boiled. The kind of a broad who knew a hell of a lot.
1934, James T. Farrell, chapter 17, in The Young Manhood of Studs Lonigan: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:'Some big, hard-boiled egg meets up with a pretty face, and bingo! He cracks up and melts.'
1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 31:
- (figuratively, qualifier:especially detective fiction) Written in a laconic, dispassionate, often ironic style for a realistic, unsentimental effect.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| hard boiled | alternative | lexicographic | |
| hardboiled | alternative | lexicographic | |
| more hard-boiled | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic | |
| most hard-boiled | Degree=Sup | lexicographic |
Antonyms
Deriveds
Synonyms
strict · insensate · callous · thick-skinned · humorless · severe · flint-hearted · stonehearted · hardened · rockhearted · hardhanded · stonyhearted · rigorous · icy · severe · cold-eyed · harsh · iron-hearted · tough · dour · stern · hard-boiled · unmoved · harsh · insensitive · hard · frosty · marble-hearted · stony · forbidding · grim · hardhearted · cruel · cold · brutal · heartless · unsympathetic