hardheaded
Definition
- Adjective:
- Practical and realistic: Guided by practical experience and observation rather than theory or emotion; pragmatic.
- Stubborn and unyielding: Unreasonably rigid in the face of argument, entreaty, or attack; obstinate.
Usage
- The primary meaning describes a person who is sensible, realistic, and focused on facts and results.
- The secondary meaning describes a person who is stubborn and refuses to change their mind.
- It is often used to describe a person's character, approach to business, or attitude in a negotiation.
Examples
- Practical and realistic:
- The company's success is due to the CEO's hardheaded business sense.
- We need a hardheaded assessment of the project's risks before investing more money.
- Stubborn and unyielding:
- He was too hardheaded to listen to our advice, even when we showed him the data.
- Her hardheaded refusal to compromise led to the collapse of the negotiations.
Advanced Usage
- "Hardheaded realism": A practical, unsentimental view of a situation.
- The policy was born out of hardheaded realism, not idealistic hope.
- "Hardheaded negotiator": A person who bargains in a tough, practical, and uncompromising way.
- As a hardheaded negotiator, she always gets the best deal for her clients.
Variants and Related Words
- Hardheadedly (adverb): In a practical and stubborn manner.
- He hardheadedly stuck to his original plan.
- Hardheadedness (noun): The quality of being practical and stubborn.
- Her hardheadedness is both her greatest strength and her biggest flaw.
Synonyms
- Pragmatic, realistic, practical, sensible, tough-minded (for the first meaning).
- Stubborn, obstinate, inflexible, unyielding, pigheaded (for the second meaning).
Antonyms
- Idealistic, theoretical, sentimental, romantic (antonyms for the first meaning).
- Flexible, open-minded, yielding, amenable (antonyms for the second meaning).
Related Idioms and Phrases
- "Hard as nails": Very tough and unsentimental (similar in spirit to the first meaning of 'hardheaded').
- In business, she's hard as nails.
- "Dig one's heels in": To refuse to change one's mind or course of action (related to the second meaning).
- He dug his heels in and refused to budge on the issue.
Adjective
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guided by practical experience and observation rather than theory
-
a hardheaded appraisal of our position
-
a hard-nosed labor leader
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completely practical in his approach to business
-
not ideology but pragmatic politics
-
-
unreasonably rigid in the face of argument or entreaty or attack
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