hardboiled
Noir detective style
Hardboiled describes an egg cooked until both white and yolk are solid, as opposed to softboiled.
The figurative sense—tough, cynical, unsentimental—dominates: a hardboiled detective, hardboiled prose.
The style emerged in American crime fiction of the 1920s and 30s, featuring world-weary protagonists who've seen too much to be shocked.
Also spelled hard-boiled.
Informal term for detective
- sleuthPrivate investigator
- private eyeHired investigator, unlicensed
- investigatorOne who examines evidence
- noirHard-boiled film genre
pulp · whodunit · mystery · crime · clues · femme fatale · suspect · alibi
Brief to bluntness
- clippedCut or trimmed briefly
- laconicBrief in expression
- spareHeld in reserve
- grittyCoarse or courageous
vernacular · slang · wisecracks · snappy · dialogue · first-person · Hammett · pulp
Durable and strong
- cynicalDoubting human goodness
- jadedDulled by overindulgence
- world-wearyFatigued by existence
- unsentimentalLacking emotional softness
callous · streetwise · grizzled · hardened · unflappable · stoic · disillusioned · bitter
gumshoe
Informal term for detective
- sleuthPrivate investigator
- private eyeHired investigator, unlicensed
- investigatorOne who examines evidence
noir · pulp · whodunit · mystery · crime · clues · femme fatale · suspect · alibi · stakeout
terse
Brief to bluntness
gritty · vernacular · slang · wisecracks · snappy · dialogue · first-person · Hammett · pulp · dime novel
tough
Durable and strong
- cynicalDoubting human goodness
- jadedDulled by overindulgence
- world-wearyFatigued by existence
unsentimental · callous · streetwise · grizzled · hardened · unflappable · stoic · disillusioned · bitter · no-nonsense
yolk
Egg's nutrient core
peeled · timer · runny · firm · jammy · Easter · protein · breakfast · brunch · salad
- genresaction, comedy, detective fiction, fantasy, horror
- crime fictiondetective fiction, murder mystery, detective novels, detective novel, detective
- mysteryclue, detective, suspect, clues, sleuth
- mystery fictionwhodunit, whodunnit, sleuth, murder mystery, detective novel
- fiction genresfiction, fantasy, novel, horror, thrillers
- pulp fictionpulp, pulp fiction, pulp magazines, pulp novels, dime novels
hardboiledsofthearted
Readily feeling sympathy
tenderhearted · sentimental · sensitive · soft · tender
hardboiledcozy mystery
Low-violence amateur sleuth genre
cozy · amateur sleuth · Miss Marple · Agatha Christie · armchair detective
hardboiledsoftboiled
Briefly simmered, yolk fluid
soft-boiled · runny · poached · raw · sunny-side up
- hardboiled detectiveTough, cynical private eye
- hardboiled fictionCynical crime writing genre