hard-fought
adjective
1
: requiring a lot of effort or hard work
He won a hard-fought campaign for reelection.
2
: achieved or acquired through a lot of effort or hard work
a hard-fought victory/triumph
Examples of hard-fought in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Physical and hard-fought from the start.
—
Joe Rexrode, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2025
The match, which was years in the making, was a dramatic and hard-fought battle that saw interference from both sides, including the surprise involvement of Copeland's wife, former WWE Women's Champion Beth Copeland.
—Andrew Ravens, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 Sep. 2025
Yes, this would be a tough and hard-fought race, as this exchange makes clear.
—Daniel Bice, jsonline.com, 6 Aug. 2025
Advertisement Advertisement The final vote was hard-fought, as GOP leaders and the President himself worked overnight to persuade skeptical holdouts to drop their opposition to the bill over its cuts to Medicaid and increase in budget deficits, which stalled the legislation for hours.
—Nik Popli, Time, 3 July 2025
In the final hours, leadership scrambled to lock down support amid growing frustration from both fiscal hawks and policy purists, underscoring just how fragile and hard-fought the party’s legislative victory truly was.
—Samantha-Jo Roth, The Washington Examiner, 3 July 2025
The road to that moment was long, hard-fought and paved by generations of LGBTQ+ activists, allies and couples who demanded visibility, dignity and equality.
—Dave Quinn, People.com, 26 June 2025
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Joe Rexrode, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2025
The match, which was years in the making, was a dramatic and hard-fought battle that saw interference from both sides, including the surprise involvement of Copeland's wife, former WWE Women's Champion Beth Copeland.
—Andrew Ravens, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 Sep. 2025
Yes, this would be a tough and hard-fought race, as this exchange makes clear.
—Daniel Bice, jsonline.com, 6 Aug. 2025
Advertisement Advertisement The final vote was hard-fought, as GOP leaders and the President himself worked overnight to persuade skeptical holdouts to drop their opposition to the bill over its cuts to Medicaid and increase in budget deficits, which stalled the legislation for hours.
—Nik Popli, Time, 3 July 2025
In the final hours, leadership scrambled to lock down support amid growing frustration from both fiscal hawks and policy purists, underscoring just how fragile and hard-fought the party’s legislative victory truly was.
—Samantha-Jo Roth, The Washington Examiner, 3 July 2025
The road to that moment was long, hard-fought and paved by generations of LGBTQ+ activists, allies and couples who demanded visibility, dignity and equality.
—Dave Quinn, People.com, 26 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hard-fought.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hard-fought. Accessed 7 Oct. 2025.
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