Definition of hardscrabble
- a hardscrabble farm
- hardscrabble prairies
- a hardscrabble farmer
- a hardscrabble cotton town
- a hardscrabble childhood
He lived a hardscrabble life.
it was hard to eke out even a bare existence on the hardscrabble lands
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'hardscrabble.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
1879
barren, bony (also boney), dead, desolate, impoverished, infertile, poor, stark, unfertile, unproductive, waste;
bleak, inhospitable, lifeless;
bankrupted, consumed, debilitated, depleted, diminished, drained, dried-up, enfeebled, exhausted, expended, lessened, reduced, spent, used up;
arid, desert, droughty, dry, rainless, sere (also sear), thirsty, waterless;
: having poor soil
: having harsh and difficult conditions because of poverty
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