# harden vs hardest

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### harden
*verb · IPA /ˈhɑɹdn̩/ · frequency rank #14,554*
To become hard.

### hardest
*adjective · IPA /ˈhɑːdɪst/ · frequency rank #6,055*
superlative form of hard: most hard. Most rigid or most difficult.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/harden-vs-hardest