hardball
noun, adjective, verb
hardball is spelled H-A-R-D-B-A-L-L: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 38,863rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, hardball means “In baseball, a type of ball and baseball game, as opposed to softball” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of hardball is hardballs.
How many letters and syllables are in hardball?
| Letters | 8: H-A-R-D-B-A-L-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 38,863rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is hardball?
Hardball appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 38,863rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce hardball?
- US
Hardball has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-hardball.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of hardball
- hardballs plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- more hardball comparative
- most hardball superlative
- hardballing participle, present
- hardballed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does hardball mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
In baseball, a type of ball and baseball game, as opposed to softball.
- 2
Tough or ruthless behavior, especially in combat, politics or business.
adjective
- 1
Being or exhibiting tough or ruthless behavior, especially in combat, politics or business.
verb
- 1
informalTo exhibit tough and ruthless behavior towards another individual.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Hardball in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense Translations:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Spanish | duro |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does hardball come from?
From hard + ball.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).