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
The flag, a symbol of the tribe’s long and hard-fought sovereignty, the ways its people have given to the Elk Grove community, and ties to land that date back, in Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen’s remarks, to time immemorial, launches the city’s commemoration of Native American Heritage Month.
—
Darrell Smith, Sacbee.com, 3 Nov. 2025
The series was extremely hard-fought, as both teams truly left it all on the field across the seven games.
—Noah Camras, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Nov. 2025
Then again, maybe all this talk of stealing games isn’t quite fair at a time when every win is hard-fought, as Tigers manager A.J. Hinch reminded reporters after Game 1 on Saturday.
—Ryan Ford, Freep.com, 6 Oct. 2025
But on that record, even the happiest songs had a kind of love-among-the-ruins feel, where the romanticism seemed hard-fought.
—Liz Schubauer, USA Today, 3 Oct. 2025
Physical and hard-fought from the start.
—Joe Rexrode, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2025
Yes, this would be a tough and hard-fought race, as this exchange makes clear.
—Daniel Bice, jsonline.com, 6 Aug. 2025
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Darrell Smith, Sacbee.com, 3 Nov. 2025
The series was extremely hard-fought, as both teams truly left it all on the field across the seven games.
—Noah Camras, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Nov. 2025
Then again, maybe all this talk of stealing games isn’t quite fair at a time when every win is hard-fought, as Tigers manager A.J. Hinch reminded reporters after Game 1 on Saturday.
—Ryan Ford, Freep.com, 6 Oct. 2025
But on that record, even the happiest songs had a kind of love-among-the-ruins feel, where the romanticism seemed hard-fought.
—Liz Schubauer, USA Today, 3 Oct. 2025
Physical and hard-fought from the start.
—Joe Rexrode, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2025
Yes, this would be a tough and hard-fought race, as this exchange makes clear.
—Daniel Bice, jsonline.com, 6 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hard-fought.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hard-fought. Accessed 1 Dec. 2025.
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