hard-bitten.

Tough, practical, and often cynical because of difficult experience.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• a hard-bitten reporter
• a hard-bitten veteran

On the page

Even the hard-bitten reporter hesitated before entering the ruined ward.

Usage notes

Primary category: literary / elevated general. Forms: Comparative more hard-bitten; superlative most hard-bitten when comparison is meaningful. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: description, character. Commonness: moderately common.