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
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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 24 Jul. 2025.
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