hard time

noun

: a long or difficult prison sentence

He could be facing hard time for his crimes.

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web My sincere thoughts are with you during this hard time. —

Good Housekeeping, 1 May 2023 Dominick eventually broke into his dad's house, costing him a night in lockup — a brief stint that the un-self-aware son equated to hard time. —

David K. Li, NBC News, 7 Apr. 2023 Jason Kelce can't help but give his little brother a hard time. —

Angela Andaloro, Peoplemag, 9 Mar. 2023 The waiter was giving me a hard time about it. —

Mark Inabinett | Minabinett@al.com, al, 6 Apr. 2023 But the astronaut office was having a hard time corralling its astronauts. —

Christian Davenport, Anchorage Daily News, 4 Apr. 2023 Did anyone have a hard time grasping that concept? —

Matt Hamilton, Los Angeles Times, 4 Apr. 2023 Out west, the Los Angeles Dodgers will have a hard time topping their 111-win 2022 regular season, the most victories for any club since the 2001 Mariners won 116. —

David Faris, The Week, 30 Mar. 2023 The first is that many of us understandably have a hard time viewing a tax break as something akin to a government check. —

Matthew Desmond, The New York Review of Books, 21 Mar. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hard time.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.