NYT Dictionary

HARD

/hɑɹd/
AdjectiveAdverbNounVerbHAHRDGrade 2

Accepted in official NYT Spelling Bee puzzle years: 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025

Meaning

Solid and firm.

Etymology

Origin: Old English

From Middle English hard, from Old English heard, from Proto-West Germanic *hard(ī), from Proto-Germanic *harduz, from Proto-Indo-European *kort-ús, from *kret- (“strong, powerful”). Cognates Cognate with Yola hard (“hard”), West Frisian hurd (“hard”), Alemannic German hert (“hard”), Bavarian hoat (“hard”), Central Franconian haat (“hard”), Dutch hard (“hard”), German hart (“hard”), Luxembourgish haart (“hard”), Danish and Swedish hård (“hard”), Faroese and Icelandic harður (“hard”), Norwegian Bokmål hard (“hard”), Norwegian Nynorsk hard, hard’u (“hard”), Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐍂𐌳𐌿𐍃 (hardus, “hard”), Ancient Greek κρατύς (kratús, “strong, mighty”), Sanskrit क्रतु (krátu, “power, might, ability”), Avestan 𐬑𐬭𐬀𐬙𐬎 (xratu).

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

resistantsolidstonystrongconfusingdifficultpuzzlingtoughtrickyarduous

Antonyms

softlow-alcoholalcohol-freenon-alcoholiceasysimplestraightforwardtritebearableflaccid

NYT Puzzle Appearances

Accepted in 4 recorded puzzles:

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