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hardscrabble

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adjective hard·scrab·ble \ ˈhärd-ˌskra-bəl \

Definition of hardscrabble

1 a :being or relating to a place of barren or barely arable soil
  • a hardscrabble farm
  • hardscrabble prairies
b :getting a meager living from poor soil
  • a hardscrabble farmer
2 :marked by poverty
  • a hardscrabble cotton town
  • a hardscrabble childhood

See hardscrabble defined for English-language learners

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Examples of hardscrabble in a Sentence

  1. He lived a hardscrabble life.

  2. it was hard to eke out even a bare existence on the hardscrabble lands

Recent Examples of hardscrabble from the Web

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.

First Known Use of hardscrabble

1879

hardscrabble Synonyms

Synonyms
bony (also boney), dead, desolate, barren, impoverished, infertile, poor, stark, unfertile, unproductive, waste
Antonyms
fertile, fruitful, lush, luxuriant, productive, rich
Related Words
bleak, inhospitable, lifeless; uncultivable, untillable; 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; baked, dehydrated, parched, sunbaked
Near Antonyms
arable, tillable; green, sylvan, verdant

HARDSCRABBLE Defined for English Language Learners

hardscrabble

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adjective

Definition of hardscrabble for English Language Learners

  • : having poor soil

  • : having harsh and difficult conditions because of poverty

Learn More about hardscrabble

  1. See words that rhyme with hardscrabble Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for hardscrabble

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Examples: hardscrabble in a Sentence