# hardball

> English word · Noun · frequency rank #38,877

## Definitions
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.

## Etymology
From hard + ball.

## Easily confused with
- **handball** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/handball-vs-hardball)
- **hardback** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hardback-vs-hardball)

## Common misspellings (11)
`ahrdball`, `hadrball`, `harbdall`, `hardabll`, `hardbal`, `hardbball`, `hardblal`, `harddball`, `harrdball`, `hhardball`, `hradball`

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