noun
1. the property of being rigid and resistant to pressure; not easily scratched; measured on Mohs scale
• Ant: ↑softness
• Derivationally related forms: ↑hard
• Hypernyms: ↑consistency, ↑consistence, ↑eubstance, ↑body
• Hyponyms: ↑firmness, ↑incompressibility
2. a quality of water that contains dissolved mineral salts that prevent soap from lathering
-
the costs of reducing hardness depend on the relative amounts of calcium and magnesium compounds that are present
• Hypernyms: ↑quality
3. devoid of passion or feeling; hardheartedness
• Syn: ↑unfeelingness, ↑callousness, ↑callosity, ↑insensibility
• Derivationally related forms: ↑insensible (for: ↑insensibility), ↑hard, ↑callous (for: ↑callosity), ↑callous (for: ↑callousness), ↑unfeeling (for: ↑unfeelingness)
• Hypernyms: ↑insensitivity, ↑insensitiveness
• Hyponyms: ↑dullness
4. the quality of being difficult to do
-
he assigned a series of problems of increasing hardness
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the ruggedness of his exams caused half the class to fail
• Syn: ↑ruggedness
• Derivationally related forms: ↑rugged (for: ↑ruggedness), ↑hard
• Hypernyms: ↑difficulty, ↑difficultness
5. excessive sternness
-
severity of character
-
the harshness of his punishment was inhuman
-
the rigors of boot camp
• Syn:
↑severity, ↑severeness, ↑harshness, ↑rigor, ↑rigour, ↑rigorousness, ↑rigourousness, ↑inclemency, ↑stiffness
• Derivationally related forms:
↑hard, ↑inclement (for: ↑inclemency), ↑rigorous (for: ↑rigorousness), ↑rigorous (for: ↑rigor), ↑harsh (for: ↑harshness), ↑severe (for: ↑severeness), ↑severe (for: ↑severity)
• Hypernyms: ↑sternness, ↑strictness
Useful english dictionary. 2012.