: gained by great effort

Examples of hard-won in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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.
The calculation has shifted since, with Meta stealing something much more intimate, deeply personal, and hard-won than data. Catherine Baab, Quartz, 7 May 2025 But Colley said safety measures that were hard-won over the decades should not fade away. Chris Kenning, USA Today, 1 May 2025 Even for adult adventurers, that type of knowledge is often hard-won over the course of many seasons—and sometimes close calls—in the mountains. Zoe Gates, Outside Online, 27 Apr. 2025 For Kumar, the jewelry offers a reminder of having been hard-won. Sadiya Ansari Spandita Malik, New York Times, 26 Apr. 2025 History shows that progress for HBCUs has often been hard-won. Marybeth Gasman, Forbes.com, 24 Apr. 2025 After the initial months of Russia's full-scale invasion and Ukraine's fall 2022 counteroffensive, the frontline in the east of Ukraine became relatively static, Russia's gains hard-won with very high casualty counts. John W. Dean, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Apr. 2025 That progress has been hard-won and should be celebrated. Lisa Jarvis, Mercury News, 29 Mar. 2025 In the series’ ending, Ae-sun and Geum-myeong’s professional successes are positioned as examples of social progress that was hard-won across generations. Kayti Burt, Time, 28 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1586, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of hard-won was in 1586

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Cite this Entry

“Hard-won.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hard-won. Accessed 23 May. 2025.

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