Hard crossword clue

The most likely answers for the crossword clue “Hard” are HEAVY, TOUGH or SOLID, with 5 letters. Below are 82 answers from 3 to 14 letters, best match first in each length, then what each top answer means and how to tell them apart.

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The best answers, explained

BAD 3 letters · adjective

having undesirable or negative qualities “a bad report card”

FIRM 4 letters · adjective

marked by firm determination or resolution; not shakable “firm convictions”

HEAVY 5 letters · adjective

given to excessive indulgence of bodily appetites especially for intoxicating liquors

TRYING 6 letters · adjective

hard to endure “fell upon trying times”

SERIOUS 7 letters · adjective

concerned with work or important matters rather than play or trivialities “a serious student of history”

SEVERELY 8 letters · adverb

causing great damage or hardship “she was severely affected by the bank's failure”

DIFFICULT 9 letters · adjective

not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure “a difficult task”

UNYIELDING 10 letters · adjective

stubbornly unyielding

CHALLENGING 11 letters · adjective

requiring full use of your abilities or resources “performed the most challenging task without a mistake”

EMBARRASSING 12 letters · adjective

hard to deal with; especially causing pain or embarrassment “awkward (or embarrassing or difficult) moments in the discussion”

UNINTELLIGIBLE 14 letters · adjective

hard or impossible to understand

Telling them apart

With 4 squares, FIRM, TALL and SURD all fit. The first letter tells them all apart: F → FIRM · T → TALL · S → SURD. Fill in that crossing answer first.

With 5 squares, HEAVY, TOUGH, SOLID, TIGHT, ROUGH and NASTY all fit. The first letter settles most of it: H → HEAVY · T → TOUGH, TIGHT · S → SOLID · R → ROUGH · N → NASTY. Fill in that crossing answer first.

With 6 squares, TRYING, STRONG, SEVERE, FIRMLY, TRICKY and STICKY all fit. The fourth letter settles most of it: I → TRYING · O → STRONG · E → SEVERE · M → FIRMLY · C → TRICKY, STICKY. Fill in that crossing answer first.

Other forms of this clue

Clues often use another form of the word, and the answer then takes the same form: “hards” wants an answer that ends the same way.

What “hard” means

• adjective: not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure (“why is it so hard for you to keep a secret?”)
• adjective: dispassionate (“took a hard look”)
• adjective: resisting weight or pressure
• adjective: very strong or vigorous (“a hard left to the chin”)

A clue usually points at one of these senses, so the right answer is the one that matches the sense the puzzle means: check it against the crossing words.

About these answers

We match the clue against our own thesaurus and dictionary (Open English WordNet): words that mean the same as HARD, and words whose definition is HARD. We don't copy answers from newspaper puzzles, so a clue that leans on trivia or wordplay may need the crossing letters instead.