hårdhänt
Swedish
Etymology
hård (“hard”) + -hänt (“-handed”)
Adjective
hårdhänt (comparative hårdhäntare, superlative hårdhäntast)
- rough (as opposed to mild), (sometimes by implication) heavy-handed
- Var inte polisen lite väl hårdhänt mot den där snubben? Han verkade ju inte göra motstånd.
- Weren't the police a bit rough with that guy? I mean, he didn't seem to be resisting.
Declension
| Inflection of hårdhänt | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Indefinite | Positive | Comparative | Superlative2 |
| Common singular | hårdhänt | hårdhäntare | hårdhäntast |
| Neuter singular | hårdhänt | hårdhäntare | hårdhäntast |
| Plural | hårdhänta | hårdhäntare | hårdhäntast |
| Masculine plural3 | hårdhänte | hårdhäntare | hårdhäntast |
| Definite | Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
| Masculine singular1 | hårdhänte | hårdhäntare | hårdhäntaste |
| All | hårdhänta | hårdhäntare | hårdhäntaste |
| 1) Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine. 2) The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative. 3) Dated or archaic | |||
Adverb
hårdhänt (comparative hårdhäntare, superlative hårdhäntast)
- roughly (as opposed to mildly), (sometimes by implication) in a heavy-handed manner
- Brottas inte så hårdhänt med nybörjarbrottarna
- Don't wrestle so rough with the beginner wrestlers
- Kunde inte upproret tryckts ner mindre hårdhänt?
- Couldn't the uprising have been suppressed in a less heavy-handed manner?
Usage notes
Physically rough is the immediate intuition, with other senses as an extension.
References
- hårdhänt in Svensk ordbok (SO)
- hårdhänt in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
- hårdhänt in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)