hard-hearted
Definition
Adjective: hard-hearted describes a person who is unfeeling, lacking in compassion, sympathy, or tenderness toward others; emotionally cold and pitiless.
Usage Examples
- (The landlord showed no sympathy or kindness.)
- (She was unmoved by emotional appeals.)
- (A ruler without compassion or mercy.)
Advanced Usage
"to be hard-hearted toward someone": to treat someone without kindness or pity.
- He was hard-hearted toward the beggar, walking past without a glance. (He showed no concern for the beggar’s plight.)
"hard-heartedness" (noun): the quality of being unfeeling or cruel.
- The hard-heartedness of the decision shocked the community. (The lack of compassion in the decision was surprising.)
Variants and Related Words
- Hard-hearted (adj): the base form; no variant spellings, but often hyphenated.
- Hard-heartedness (noun): the state or quality of being hard-hearted.
- Her hard-heartedness made it difficult for her to make friends. (Her lack of warmth alienated others.)
Synonyms
- Callous: emotionally insensitive; unfeeling.
- The callous remark hurt her feelings deeply. (A remark showing no care for others’ emotions.)
- Unsympathetic: not showing or feeling sympathy.
- His unsympathetic response was disappointing. (He did not express understanding or pity.)
- Pitiless: showing no pity or mercy.
- The pitiless storm destroyed everything in its path. (A storm without mercy, used metaphorically of a person.)
Antonyms
- Compassionate: feeling or showing sympathy and concern for others.
- Tender-hearted: gentle, kind, and easily moved by others’ suffering.
- Kind-hearted: having a kind and generous nature.
Related Idioms
"of stone": used to describe someone who is emotionally cold or unyielding.
- His heart is of stone; he never forgives. (He is permanently hard-hearted and unforgiving.)
"heart of ice": a heart that is cold and unfeeling.
- She had a heart of ice, unable to love or care. (She was completely lacking in warmth.)