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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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for case-hardened

Adjective

The author's personal journey highlights how ruthless prioritization, risk management, and resourcefulness, born from necessity, became foundations for financial stability.

— Kristin Vance Richards, Forbes.com, 29 July 2026
In Season 2, the ruthless, backstabbing family behind a beauty brand — and an underground trafficking ring — will face a reckoning.

— Rosy Cordero, Deadline, 28 July 2026

Definition of ruthless

Verb

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
According to interviews with Hooper, the concept for the film crystallized for him after a Christmastime visit to a Montgomery Ward department store.

— Jordana Rosenfeld, Encyclopedia Britannica, 10 July 2026

Definition of crystallized

Adjective

Regehr was relentless and merciless, and Oilers fans had to witness it over and over again.

— Sean McIndoe, New York Times, 25 July 2026
The red card was rescinded; the team was unmoored; conspiracies grew overnight, like mushrooms; and a merciless Belgium swept in and trampled, 4–1, on what remained.

— Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 17 July 2026

Definition of merciless

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-hardened.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/case-hardened. Accessed 4 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of case-hardened

adjective

verb

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