the hard way
noun
: in a way that involves difficult or painful experiences
He found out the hard way that crime doesn't pay.
She insisted on doing things the hard way.
Examples of the hard way in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Police in Newark have opened an investigation because a local woman learned that lesson the hard way.
—
Nate Gartrell, The Mercury News, 12 Apr. 2024
The latest company to learn this lesson the hard way is Wendy’s.
—Byirina Ivanova, Fortune, 5 Apr. 2024
The nephew of Academy Award-winning art director Joseph Wright learned this lesson the hard way in 2015 after selling his uncle’s statuette to an auctioneer for $79,200.
—Chris Nashawaty, The Hollywood Reporter, 6 Mar. 2024
Women, and the medical establishment, learned the hard way that the mesh could cause urogenital complications, excessive scarring and pain, and, in some cases, could even poke out through the skin.
—Catherine M. Klapperich, STAT, 12 Apr. 2024
Even though the economy’s been performing well by many metrics, Biden’s learning the hard way that good data — no matter how strong — does little to change how people feel about the economy.
—Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN, 11 Apr. 2024
But getting votes from people who have a negative view is definitely doing things the hard way.
—David Lauter, Los Angeles Times, 1 Mar. 2024
But diseases in chicken coops can be difficult to control, as poultry farmers learned the hard way when a highly infectious avian flu ravaged their flocks over the past couple years, sending prices of chicken and eggs surging before coming back down to Earth late last year.
—David Goldman, CNN, 25 Mar. 2024
My seven-year-old self quickly learned that lesson the hard way, and ever since then, my motto has always been happy feet, happy hiker.
—Katie Jackson, Travel + Leisure, 16 Mar. 2024
Nate Gartrell, The Mercury News, 12 Apr. 2024
The latest company to learn this lesson the hard way is Wendy’s.
—Byirina Ivanova, Fortune, 5 Apr. 2024
The nephew of Academy Award-winning art director Joseph Wright learned this lesson the hard way in 2015 after selling his uncle’s statuette to an auctioneer for $79,200.
—Chris Nashawaty, The Hollywood Reporter, 6 Mar. 2024
Women, and the medical establishment, learned the hard way that the mesh could cause urogenital complications, excessive scarring and pain, and, in some cases, could even poke out through the skin.
—Catherine M. Klapperich, STAT, 12 Apr. 2024
Even though the economy’s been performing well by many metrics, Biden’s learning the hard way that good data — no matter how strong — does little to change how people feel about the economy.
—Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN, 11 Apr. 2024
But getting votes from people who have a negative view is definitely doing things the hard way.
—David Lauter, Los Angeles Times, 1 Mar. 2024
But diseases in chicken coops can be difficult to control, as poultry farmers learned the hard way when a highly infectious avian flu ravaged their flocks over the past couple years, sending prices of chicken and eggs surging before coming back down to Earth late last year.
—David Goldman, CNN, 25 Mar. 2024
My seven-year-old self quickly learned that lesson the hard way, and ever since then, my motto has always been happy feet, happy hiker.
—Katie Jackson, Travel + Leisure, 16 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'the hard way.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near the hard way
Cite this Entry
“The hard way.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/the%20hard%20way. Accessed 1 May. 2024.
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