hardy
/ˈhɑɹdi/adjective, noun
hardy is spelled H-A-R-D-Y: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 7.2 times per million words in written English, the 8,784th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “hardy vs hearty” about 1,600 times a month (Google, United States). As an adjective, hardy means “Having rugged physical strength; inured to fatigue or hardships” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in hardy?
| Letters | 5: H-A-R-D-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 7.2 times per million words; the 8,784th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is hardy?
Hardy appears 7.2 times per million words in written English, the 8,784th 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 hardy?
- US /ˈhɑɹdi/
- UK /ˈhɑːdi/
Hardy 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: En-us-hardy.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with hardy
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with hardy?
2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as hardy from its last stressed vowel (/ɑɹdi/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: hydra.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of hardy
- hardier comparative
- hardiest superlative
- hardies plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does hardy mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Having rugged physical strength; inured to fatigue or hardships.
- 2
Able to survive adverse growing conditions, especially frost.
A hardy plant is one that can withstand the extremes of climate, such as frost.
- 3
Brave and resolute.
- 4
Impudent.
noun
- 1
Anything, especially a plant, that is hardy.
- 2
A blacksmith's fuller or chisel, having a square shank for insertion into a square hole in an anvil.
- 3
A hardy hole.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Hardy in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | robuste, rustique |
| German | abgehärtet, widerstandsfähig , winterfest (winterhardy) |
| Portuguese | resistente |
| Spanish | robusto, resistente |
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 hardy come from?
From Middle English hardy, hardi, from Old French hardi (“hardy, daring, stout, bold”). Old French hardi is usually regarded as the past participle of hardir ("to harden, be bold, make bold"; compare Occitan ardir, Italian ardire), from Frankish *hardijan; but it may also have come directly from Frankish *hardi, a secondary form of Frankish *hard (compare Old High German harti, herti, secondary forms of Old High German hart (“hard”)); or even yet from Frankish *hardig (compare Middle Low German herdich (“persevering”), Old Danish hærdig, Norwegian herdig, Swedish härdig (“vigorous, courageous”
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).