hardened

4 definitions • 4 examples

used to describe someone who has had a lot of bad experiences and as a result no longer gets upset or shocked:

hardened detectives/reporters

no longer likely to change a bad way of life or feel sorry about it:

a hardened criminal

to develop a way of dealing with a sad situation so that it no longer upsets you:

You see all sorts of terrible things when you're a nurse so you become hardened to it.

having developed a way of dealing with bad experiences so that they no longer upset you :

The judge called him a hardened criminal (= one who will not stop his criminal activity).