hardscrabble
Americanadjective
noun
-
(modifier) (of a place) difficult to make a living in; barren
-
great effort made in the face of difficulties
Etymology
Origin of hardscrabble
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The candidates vied to establish their relatability, that most valuable of campaign currencies, by describing their own hardscrabble experiences.
From Los Angeles Times
He lived just outside Sassafras Springs in a cluster of small hardscrabble farms everybody called Bent Fork, because it was tucked in next to the bend of the creek.
From Literature
From hardscrabble beginnings, they rise to become Germany’s foremost carmakers.
President Masoud Pezeshkian promised dialogue and acknowledged "legitimate demands" in in a country where inflation soars near 50%, and currency depreciations play havoc with people's hardscrabble lives.
From BBC
Ms. Iturbide’s most well-known image shows a woman with flowing waist-length hair and billowing skirts looming above a hardscrabble landscape, a modern boombox clutched in her right hand.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
