hard-knock
adjective
: marked by difficult or painful experiences or circumstances
For all of his gifts, Cabrera's greatest strength may be a toughness that came from his hard-knock life.—
Alan Shipnuck
Alan ShipnuckExamples of hard-knock in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The book by Kristoffer Diaz is loosely inspired by Keys own hard-knock growing-up years in New York City’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood.
—Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Feb. 2025
Joy Behar had a hard-knock time watching Whoopi Goldberg’s debut performance of Annie on Wednesday thanks to their fellow View cohost, Sunny Hostin.
—EW.com, 12 Dec. 2024
After depicting the arrival of space-faring nomads on a distant planet in January, her spring 2025 collection will be looking at the hard-knock life of the exploring settler in an unknown environment.
—Lily Templeton, WWD, 19 June 2024
This story of an orphan's hard-knock life is an optional add-on to a six- or seven-show Broadway series subscription.
—Jim Higgins, Journal Sentinel, 25 Mar. 2024
But here the tale being told is not wistful but dynamic, its nostalgia sharpened with hard-knock realities, and its sentimentality offset with humor, snap and darkness.
—Frank Rizzo, Variety, 22 Mar. 2024
Having spent over a decade playing troubled young women in films such as Atonement, Killer Joe, Afternoon Delight and Unsane, Temple had effectively established herself as a dramatic actress who could tap into the darkness of a hard-knock life many times over.
—Max Gao, Harper's BAZAAR, 13 Mar. 2023
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Feb. 2025
Joy Behar had a hard-knock time watching Whoopi Goldberg’s debut performance of Annie on Wednesday thanks to their fellow View cohost, Sunny Hostin.
—EW.com, 12 Dec. 2024
After depicting the arrival of space-faring nomads on a distant planet in January, her spring 2025 collection will be looking at the hard-knock life of the exploring settler in an unknown environment.
—Lily Templeton, WWD, 19 June 2024
This story of an orphan's hard-knock life is an optional add-on to a six- or seven-show Broadway series subscription.
—Jim Higgins, Journal Sentinel, 25 Mar. 2024
But here the tale being told is not wistful but dynamic, its nostalgia sharpened with hard-knock realities, and its sentimentality offset with humor, snap and darkness.
—Frank Rizzo, Variety, 22 Mar. 2024
Having spent over a decade playing troubled young women in films such as Atonement, Killer Joe, Afternoon Delight and Unsane, Temple had effectively established herself as a dramatic actress who could tap into the darkness of a hard-knock life many times over.
—Max Gao, Harper's BAZAAR, 13 Mar. 2023
Cite this Entry
“Hard-knock.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hard-knock. Accessed 1 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share