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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

case-hardened

2 of 2

verb

past tense of case-harden

as in tempered

Related Words

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for case-hardened

Adjective

Today, it is widely known that coal miners of the 19th and early 20th centuries experienced ruthless exploitation and hazardous working conditions.

— Marcus Librizzi, The Conversation, 26 Oct. 2026
Involuntary bumping is more ruthless, denying boarding to passengers in a joyless game of musical plane seats.

— Andrea Sachs, Washington Post, 24 Oct. 2026

Definition of ruthless

Verb

And no conflict has crystallized this attraction to the world’s stronger nations over their weaker victims of aggression as has Russia’s war in Ukraine.

— Howard LaFranchi, Christian Science Monitor, 22 Oct. 2026
But now, as everything online morphs into algorithmic social media, the case for concern has crystallized into something quite specific.

— Allison Parshall, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of crystallized

Adjective

It would be seen as a work of merciless autofiction in the vein of Karl Ove Knausgaard, and it would be discussed, as his books are, as aggressive, antisocial, and spiteful.

— B. D. McClay, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2026
In the story, Ria teams up with her foster mother and their fellow punks to resist a merciless developer intent on tearing down their building.

— Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 19 Oct. 2026

Definition of merciless

Verb

The characters are petrified like specimens, expressing and embodying only what fits into the film’s design, with no potential for inconvenient loose ends for viewers to follow outside the frame’s borders.

— Richard Brody, New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2026
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

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

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

case-harden

case-hardened

case-hardening

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Case-hardened.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/case-hardened. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of case-hardened

adjective

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

grotesque

Popular in Grammar & Usage

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Popular in Wordplay

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE

Popular

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes