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

Once the ruthless commander of Bosnian Serb forces, Mladic oversaw the siege of Sarajevo, mass killings and the 1995 Srebrenica massacre that left more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys dead.

— Jovana Gec, Los Angeles Times, 27 Aug. 2026
The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter, like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.

— Charlotte Phillipp, PEOPLE, 27 Aug. 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

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“Case-hardened.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/case-hardened. Accessed 31 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of case-hardened

adjective

verb

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