hardheaded
adjective
hard·head·ed ˈhärd-ˈhe-dəd 
1
: stubborn, willful
2
: concerned with or involving practical considerations : sober, realistic
some hardheaded advice
a hardheaded observer of winds and tides
hardheadedly adverb
hardheadedness noun
Synonyms
- astute
- canny
- clear-eyed
- clear-sighted
- hard-boiled
- heady
- knowing
- savvy
- sharp
- sharp-witted
- shrewd
- smart
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
He was always hardheaded about getting his way. We need to take a more hardheaded approach to these problems. She gave him some hardheaded advice.
Recent Examples on the Web Politicians like John Adams and Theodore Roosevelt, and hardheaded businessmen like John D. Rockefeller and J.P. Morgan, supported Zionist aspirations as well. 
Walter Russell Mead, WSJ, 5 Sep. 2022 What does matter is to stop being so hardheaded and close-minded. San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 July 2022 Haidt believes that conditions are too dire to take the hardheaded, no-reasonable-doubt view. The New Yorker, 3 June 2022 Whether overconfidence or hardheaded realism are responsible for the tepid countercyclical response, the likely result is the same: an extended period of subpar Chinese growth, beginning with a steep downturn this quarter. Nathaniel Taplin, WSJ, 17 May 2022 Tom, his glib wanna-be anchorman (a temptation to Holly Hunter's hardheaded producer), is both a perfect piece of casting, and a key into something essential about his art. Joshua Rothkopf, EW.com, 14 Mar. 2022 Any hardheaded, pragmatic look at what must be done to protect the country and its inhabitants would put climate policy at the top of the agenda. Ryan Cooper, The Week, 11 June 2021 Yet amid the financial insecurity, this generation is responding with a blend of hardheaded pragmatism and nontraditional efforts to make economic opportunity more inclusive. Erika Page, The Christian Science Monitor, 14 July 2021 Both hardheaded and desperate, Mencía goes against the grain, sitting alongside her classmates in their protest of Don Benjamín and catching the eye of heroine Rebe, short for Rebeca (Claudia Salas). Ruth Etiesit Samuel, Los Angeles Times, 18 June 2021 See More
Walter Russell Mead, WSJ, 5 Sep. 2022 What does matter is to stop being so hardheaded and close-minded. San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 July 2022 Haidt believes that conditions are too dire to take the hardheaded, no-reasonable-doubt view. The New Yorker, 3 June 2022 Whether overconfidence or hardheaded realism are responsible for the tepid countercyclical response, the likely result is the same: an extended period of subpar Chinese growth, beginning with a steep downturn this quarter. Nathaniel Taplin, WSJ, 17 May 2022 Tom, his glib wanna-be anchorman (a temptation to Holly Hunter's hardheaded producer), is both a perfect piece of casting, and a key into something essential about his art. Joshua Rothkopf, EW.com, 14 Mar. 2022 Any hardheaded, pragmatic look at what must be done to protect the country and its inhabitants would put climate policy at the top of the agenda. Ryan Cooper, The Week, 11 June 2021 Yet amid the financial insecurity, this generation is responding with a blend of hardheaded pragmatism and nontraditional efforts to make economic opportunity more inclusive. Erika Page, The Christian Science Monitor, 14 July 2021 Both hardheaded and desperate, Mencía goes against the grain, sitting alongside her classmates in their protest of Don Benjamín and catching the eye of heroine Rebe, short for Rebeca (Claudia Salas). Ruth Etiesit Samuel, Los Angeles Times, 18 June 2021 See More Word History
First Known Use
circa 1532, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Kids Definition
hardheaded
adjective
hard·head·ed ˈhärd-ˈhe-dəd
1
: stubborn sense 1
2
: using or showing good judgment
a hardheaded businessman
hardheaded
adjective
1
as in smart
having or showing a practical cleverness or judgment a hardheaded politician who never hesitated to set aside principle in favor of expediency Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- smart
- shrewd
- savvy
- astute
- wise
- canny
- intelligent
- clear-eyed
- veteran
- clear-sighted
- sharp
- experienced
- clever
- sharp-witted
- cunning
- knowing
- brilliant
- keen
- hard-boiled
- wily
- heady
- sagacious
- perspicacious
- perceptive
- cagey
- bright
- resourceful
- insightful
- quick
- slick
- crafty
- sly
- artful
- tricky
- sage
- foxy
- brainy
- devious
- subtle
- discerning
- cagy
- guileful
- discriminating
- pawky
- nimble
- calculating
- agile
- quick-witted
- sapient
- ingenious
- discriminative
- percipient
- apt
- dodgy
- alert
- scheming
- sharp-sighted
- sharp-eyed
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- naive
- naïve
- guileless
- artless
- gullible
- ingenuous
- innocent
- unknowing
- unwise
- dumb
- stupid
- obtuse
- thickheaded
- unperceptive
- foolish
- dopey
- dense
- exploitable
- simple
- slow
- knuckleheaded
- softheaded
- unintelligent
- idiotic
- ignorant
- silly
- dull
- feebleminded
- gullable
- thoughtless
- lamebrained
- brainless
- moronic
- uninformed
- lamebrain
- imbecilic
- imbecile
- dopy
- airheaded
- witless
- gormless
- lunkheaded
- dim-witted
- slow-witted
- thick-witted
- half-witted
- birdbrained
- weak-minded
- brain-dead
- empty-headed
- idiotical
2
as in stubborn
sticking to an opinion, purpose, or course of action in spite of reason, arguments, or persuasion Granny remained hardheaded about keeping her house and not moving into a nursing home Synonyms & Similar Words
- stubborn
- adamant
- steadfast
- hardened
- headstrong
- bullheaded
- intransigent
- obstinate
- opinionated
- pigheaded
- obdurate
- uncompromising
- unbending
- mulish
- willful
- wilful
- implacable
- unyielding
- hard-nosed
- obsessive
- inflexible
- dogged
- hard
- pertinacious
- unrelenting
- immovable
- determined
- pat
- adamantine
- persistent
- ossified
- self-willed
- stiff-necked
- perverse
- strict
- self-opinionated
- relentless
- tenacious
- inconvincible
- wrongheaded
- unflinching
- defiant
- rigid
- stern
- cantankerous
- deaf to reason
- wayward
- iron
- resolved
- hidebound
- single-minded
- severe
- recalcitrant
- inexorable
- uncooperative
- intractable
- bloody-minded
- stouthearted
- disobedient
- indomitable
- firm
- insubordinate
- anal-retentive
- hard-line
- narrow-minded
- contumacious
- invincible
- mutinous
- unmanageable
- refractory
- cussed
- hard-shelled
- contrary
- inveterate
- unruly
- unconquerable
- hell-bent
- insurgent
- ungovernable
- exacting
- unregenerate
- demanding
- set
- confirmed
- hard-shell
- froward
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- flexible
- acquiescent
- amenable
- obedient
- agreeable
- pliable
- pliant
- docile
- compliant
- submissive
- tractable
- receptive
- complying
- willing
- yielding
- responsive
- reasonable
- accepting
- placable
- relenting
- persuadable
- temperate
- subservient
- slavish
- governable
- manageable
3
as in pragmatic
willing to see things as they really are and deal with them sensibly a hardheaded minister who understands the difficulties teenagers face today Synonyms & Similar Words
- pragmatic
- realistic
- practical
- pragmatical
- sensible
- cynical
- rational
- earthy
- logical
- reasonable
- matter-of-fact
- down-to-earth
- levelheaded
- grounded
- utilitarian
- sober
- skeptical
- sound
- sane
- tough-minded
- unsentimental
- disillusioned
- pessimistic
- unromantic
- philistine
- commonsensical
- hard
- no-nonsense
- distrustful
- mistrustful
- misanthropic
- sobersided
- hard-edged
- suspicious
- idealless
- hard-boiled
- bottom-line
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- idealistic
- visionary
- unrealistic
- impractical
- imaginative
- optimistic
- utopian
- romantic
- sentimental
- fanciful
- cheerful
- fantastical
- fantastic
- unreasonable
- irrational
- blue-sky
- theoretical
- trustful
- trusting
- illogical
- insane
- theoretic
- rose-colored
- unsuspicious
- half-baked