Meaning & use
hardhead
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Meanings
nouncountableinformaldisapproving
A stubborn person who refuses to change their mind or take advice.
Grammar: Countable: he is a real hardhead.
Patterns
- be a hardhead
- call someone a hardhead
My grandfather is a hardhead who never follows the doctor's advice.
Don't be such a hardhead and listen for once.
The coach called the star player a hardhead after he ignored the plan.
nouncountableinformalapproving
A practical, realistic person who makes decisions with common sense rather than emotion.
Grammar: Often used with an approving tone in business and politics.
Patterns
- a hardhead in business
The bank hired a hardhead to run the finance department.
She has a reputation as a hardhead who never wastes money.
A few hardheads on the board slowed down the spending.
nouncountableregionalspecialist
Any of several kinds of fish or birds known by this name in some regions, such as the Atlantic croaker.
Grammar: A regional or specialist sense, rarely met in general reading.
Patterns
- catch a hardhead
The fisherman threw a hardhead back into the bay.
Hardheads were biting along the dock all afternoon.
The island menu featured grilled hardhead.
Word forms
| plural | hardheads |
|---|
Common combinations
- stubborn hardhead
- He's a stubborn hardhead who never asks for help.
- hardhead in the family
- Every family has a hardhead.
- call someone a hardhead
- She called her brother a hardhead for refusing the map.
- hardhead negotiator
- The company sent a hardhead negotiator to the talks.
- hardheaded decisions
- The mayor made some hardheaded decisions about the budget.
Synonyms and how they differ
- mule
- Mule is a stronger comparison for someone completely immovable, while hardhead is milder.
- stubborn person
- Stubborn person is the neutral plain description, whereas hardhead is colorful and informal.
- diehard
- Diehard suggests loyalty to a cause or old ways, not general refusal to listen.
- pragmatist
- Pragmatist is the neutral word for the practical sense, while hardhead sounds tougher and more informal.
Opposites
Word family
- hardheaded adjective
- stubborn, or practical and realistic
- hard-headedness noun
- the quality of being stubborn or realistic
- head noun
- the top part of the body
- hardhat noun
- a protective helmet worn on building sites
Commonly confused: hardhead or hardhat? hardhead or hard head?
hardhead vs hardhat
A hardhat is a protective helmet used on building sites, not a stubborn person.
hardhead vs hard head
Written as two words, hard head can simply mean a head that is physically hard, as in a headache.
Practice
My uncle is such a ___ that he still refuses to use a map, even when we are lost.
Choose one answer.
A hardhead is a stubborn person who ignores advice. A hardhat is a helmet, hardware is equipment, and hardship is difficulty.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “hardhead”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.