CASE-HARDENED Synonyms: 153 Similar and Opposite Words

case-hardened 1 of 2

adjective

as in ruthless

having or showing a lack of sympathy or tender feelings a case-hardened homicide detective who has seen it all

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case-hardened

2 of 2

verb

past tense of case-harden

as in tempered

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Recent Examples of Synonyms for case-hardened

Adjective

He was always destined to follow in the footsteps of another tyrannical, ruthless Don – Michael Corleone.

— Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 3 Sep. 2026
Ink finds the Sinners star playing ruthless tabloid editor Larry Lamb in Boyle’s retelling of what happened when Rupert Murdoch acquired struggling British newspaper The Sun.

— Chris Gardner, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2026

Definition of ruthless

Verb

But the moment that crystallized the problem was personal, not professional.

— Geri Stengel, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026
That brittleness, though, is exactly what has made Criston’s turn toward nihilism at the end of the second season, and now crystallized in episode five, so gratifying.

— The Editors, Vulture, 17 July 2026

Definition of crystallized

Verb

The first film follows a group of French high-school students who travel to Naples on a school trip to discover the ruins of Pompeii and the bodies petrified by Vesuvius.

— Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 20 May 2026
Johansson plays her with a tough edge to match her Queens accent, but Hester is clearly petrified by this perfect storm of ugly events.

— David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 16 May 2026

Definition of petrified

Adjective

Oscar Wilde, for example, reposes beneath a hulking deity whose iconoclastic castration, back in 1961, did little to restrain pilgrims seeking to smear red lips across his stony physique.

— Emily Cox, ARTnews.com, 22 May 2026
Instead of looking like a sleek urban loft, the room can quickly start to feel cold, stony, and impersonal.

— Natasha Bazika, Martha Stewart, 9 May 2026

Definition of stony

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case-harden

case-hardened

case-hardening

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“Case-hardened.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/case-hardened. Accessed 5 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of case-hardened

adjective

verb

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