Green’s Dictionary of Slang

tough, no-nonsense, uncompromising.

1962		F. Harvey Strike Command 115: So good-by, you hard-assed old bastard.
1966		H.S. Thompson Hell’s Angels (1967) 135: The original Oakland Angels were hard-ass brawlers.
1971		B. Malamud Tenants (1972) 38: A hardassed attractive girl with an animated open face and fine figure.
1976		A. Salkey Come Home, Malcolm Heartland 110: I’ve taken a proper hard-arse look at myself, ol’ man.
1977		A. Brooke Last Toke 160: The hard-ass homicide honkie had his shit together.
1979		F. Norman Too Many Crooks Spoil the Caper 206: She was flanked by Glenys, lookin her usual sexy hardarsed self and a man I’d never seen before.
1979		E. Torres After Hours 33: I been hard nose and hard ass all my life.
1983		R. Price Breaks 196: I started getting incensed, hard-assed, filled with [...] outrage.
1985		(con. 1969–70) D. Bodey F.N.G. (1988) 287: Callmeblack sometimes has a hardass look that I think I remember from [...] when we had just gotten in-country.
1992		S.L. Hills Tragic Magic 146: The Department of Correctional Services only supplies you with certain things: a towel, a toothbrush, that hardass lye soap.
1993		T. Jones Pugilist at Rest 9: Every member of the platoon was called in and grilled by a team of hard-ass captains.
1999		Observer Mag. 18 July 12: His new single [...] features hard-ass rapper of the moment, Nas.
2000		P. Beatty Tuff 224: A luscious, dark black, hard-ass gospel body.
2002		A. Duff Jake’s Long Shadow 69: I am still the big boss of those hard-arsed bastards.
2012		(con. 1980s) I. Welsh Skagboys Ay Hollywood film nopir, where the women were hard-arsed, dirty rides with fast, trashy gobs: .
2015		N. Cummins Tales of the Honey Badger [ebook] My boss at the time [...] was old school and as hard-arse as they come.
2020		A. Trebek The Answer Is 137: [T]here are some who join the military because they’re hard-ass individuals and just like to lord it over other people.