harder

1. 1
   adjective

   Comparative of hard.

   The second exam turned out to be far harder than the first.

   The bread was harder than she expected after a day on the counter.

   Note

   One spelling does double duty here. Harder compares the adjective (steel is harder than copper) and the adverb (he tries harder), because hard is both an adjective and an adverb. It is built with the suffix -er, and its superlative is hardest. An unrelated noun shares the spelling: the South African fish name has a different origin and takes a plural.

2. 2
   nounSouth Africa

   Alternative spelling of haarder.

   The market stalls were piled high with silvery harder straight off the boats.

   Locals net harder along the lagoon when the shoals move inshore.

   Note

   A South African fish name borrowed from Afrikaans haarder, "mullet", and written here with a single a. It covers two mullets: the redlip mullet, Planiliza haematocheilus, and Chelon richardsonii, the South African mullet. As a noun it takes the plural harders, and it has no connection to the comparative of hard.

Showing meanings only. Show all 2