guided by practical experience and observation rather than theory; "a hardheaded appraisal of our position"; "a hard-nosed labor leader"; "completely practical in his approach to business"; "not ideology but pragmatic politics"
unreasonably rigid in the face of argument or entreaty or attack
marked by eagerness to resort to violence and bloodshed; "bloody-minded tyrants"; "bloodthirsty yells"; "went after the collaborators with a sanguinary fury that drenched the land with blood"-G.W.Johnson
using (or as if using) mechanisms or tools or devices; "a mechanical process"; "his smile was very mechanical"; "a mechanical toy"
relating to or governed by or in accordance with mechanics; "a belief that the universe is a mechanical contrivance"; "the mechanical pressure of a strong wind"
relating to or concerned with machinery or tools; "mechanical arts"; "mechanical design"; "mechanical skills"
difficult to penetrate; incomprehensible to one of ordinary understanding or knowledge; "the professor's lectures were so abstruse that students tended to avoid them"; "a deep metaphysical theory"; "some recondite problem in historiography"
requiring more than usually expected or thought due; especially great patience and effort and skill; "found the job very demanding"; "a baby can be so demanding"
inquire into; "the students had to research the history of the Second World War for their history project"; "He searched for information on his relatives on the web"; "Scientists are exploring the nature of consciousness"
attempt to find out in a systematically and scientific manner; "The student researched the history of that word"