hard pass
Emphatic casual rejection
A hard pass is a firm refusal, more emphatic than a simple no.
The phrase comes from entertainment industry jargon where executives pass on projects, with hard indicating no room for reconsideration: They wanted me to work the holiday weekend—hard pass.
Often used alone as a complete response: Hard pass.
decline
Decrease or refuse
skip · opt out · turn down · refuse · deny · veto · abstain · bow out · sit out · walk away
- refusalsno, decline, no thanks, refuse, nope
- negativesno, not, never, none, nothing
- turn-offsick, red flag, red flags, dealbreaker, dealbreakers
- Boundary phrasesno, stop, enough, boundaries, off limits
- sarcastic phraseswhatever, who cares, yeah right, so what, why bother
- stubbornnessstubbornness, obstinacy, pigheadedness, bullheadedness, mulishness
acceptance/rejection
hard passhell yes
Forceful informal affirmative
absolutely · sign me up · I'm in · count me in · definitely
hard, pass, harder, hardest, harden, hardened, hardening, hardener, hardness