hardened

About 3.71 uses per million words.

Meaning

1. verb simple past and past participle of harden
2. adjective Made physically hard.

   hardened steel

3. adjective Having been accustomed or desensitized to something unpleasant through exposure or experience; inured.

   hardened police officers

4. adjective Unfeeling; pitiless; callous.

   The bloody scene could reduce even the most hardened soldier to tears.

5. adjective Firmly established in a behavior seen as bad; unlikely to change one's ways; inveterate.

   hardened criminals

6. adjective Having extra defences against attack; highly fortified.

   a hardened air base

Similar words

hard tough case-hardened tempered set burnt sunbaked treated baked hard-boiled

Often followed by

by and in into to steel the his criminals

Word family

harden hardening hardens