Definition of "hardnosed" [hardnosed]

• Describing a person who is tough and relentlessly practical and thus not given to sentiment. (adjective)

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• "Cohen spent most of his career in the intelligence directorate, where he was known as a hardnosed manager and gained a measure of notoriety for writing a report, later dismissed by an internal CIA review, that blamed the Soviets for the 1981 assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II."
• "He wasn't a "hardnosed" prosecutor; he was a criminal who had lucked into gaining prosecutorial discretion and prosecutorial immunity."
• "The presence of the police and the defence force in the area had been beefed up, and "hardnosed" investigations into past violence in the area were continuing, Mufamadi said."