What does "hardy" mean?
Anything, especially a plant, that is hardy.
Hardy
/ˈhɑɹdi/ adj, name, noun
adj, name, noun ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Anything, especially a plant, that is hardy.
- Grammar: hardy is listed as adj, name, noun.
- Nearest alternatives: sturdy, abiding, able-bodied, age-long.
- Useful contrasts: delicate, fragile, fragile reef ecosystem.
- Usage evidence: The English are a hardy people.
How to use "hardy"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "hardy" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "hardy" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "hardy" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "hardy" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "hardy" is acting as adj, name, noun in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "sturdy" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "hardy", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Anything, especially a plant, that is hardy. plural-normally
"Across the country, various bands of journalistic hardies — newsroom pros whose services are no longer salient to a crippled and disrupted information economy — have taken matters into their own hands."
- 2 A blacksmith's fuller or chisel, having a square shank for insertion into a square hole in an anvil.
- 3 hardy hole
Adjective
- 1 Having rugged physical strength; inured to fatigue or hardships.
"It is an useful sort of the smaller kind of hogs, that is hardy in its nature and of considerable weight in proportion to its size."
- 2 Able to survive adverse growing conditions, especially frost.
"A hardy plant is one that can withstand the extremes of climate, such as frost."
- 3 Brave and resolute.
"But he was not ſo hardy to abide That bitter ſtownd, but turning quicke aſide His light-foot beaſt, fled faſt away for feare:"
- 4 Impudent.
Adjective
- 1 invulnerable to fear or intimidation wordnet
- 2 having rugged physical strength; inured to fatigue or hardships wordnet
- 3 able to survive under unfavorable weather conditions wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 A former town in Manchester, England, now absorbed into Chorlton-cum-Hardy. historical
- 2 A common surname transferred from the nickname, originally a nickname for a hardy person.
- 3 A common surname transferred from the nickname, originally a nickname for a hardy person.; Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), English novelist and poet.
- 4 A male given name transferred from the surname.
- 5 A number of places in the United States:; A minor city in Sharp County and Fulton County, Arkansas.
Show 11 more definitions
- 6 A number of places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Mendocino County, California.
- 7 A number of places in the United States:; A minor city in Humboldt County, Iowa.
- 8 A number of places in the United States:; An unincorporated community and coal town in Pike County, Kentucky.
- 9 A number of places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Grenada County, Mississippi.
- 10 A number of places in the United States:; A census-designated place in Cascade County, Montana.
- 11 A number of places in the United States:; A village in Nuckolls County, Nebraska.
- 12 A number of places in the United States:; A township in Holmes County, Ohio.
- 13 A number of places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Franklin County, Virginia.
- 14 A township in Parry Sound District, Ontario, Canada.
- 15 A hamlet in Rural Municipality of The Gap No. 39, Saskatchewan, Canada.
- 16 A locality east of Peterborough, South Australia.
Example
"The English are a hardy people."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "hardy"?
Common synonyms include: sturdy, abiding, able-bodied, age-long, aged, ancient.
How do you use "hardy" in a sentence?
The English are a hardy people.
How do you pronounce "hardy"?
Pronounced /ˈhɑɹdi/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English hardy, hardi, from Old French hardi (“hardy, daring, stout, bold”). Old French hardi is usually regarded as the past participle of hardir ("to harden, be bold, make bold"; compare Occitan ardir, Italian ardire), from Frankish *hardijan; but it may also have come directly from Frankish *hardi, a secondary form of Frankish *hard (compare Old High German harti, herti, secondary forms of Old High German hart (“hard”)); or even yet from Frankish *hardig (compare Middle Low German herdich (“persevering”), Old Danish hærdig, Norwegian herdig, Swedish härdig (“vigorous, courageous”)). Cognate with hard. May have at some point also been surface analysed as hard + -y.
Etymology 2
From Old English *Hearda + īeġ (“island, dry land in a marsh”).
Etymology 3
* As an English, Scottish, and French surname, from Middle English hardy, hardi, from Old French hardi (“hardy, daring, stout, bold”). * As an Irish surname, via mac giolla deacair (“son of the hard lad”) as a calque of the above. * Also as a Scottish surname, variant of Hardie.