hardscrabble
adjective
hard·scrab·ble
ˈhärd-ˌskra-bəl 
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
Examples of hardscrabble in a Sentence
He lived a hardscrabble life.
it was hard to eke out even a bare existence on the hardscrabble lands
Recent Examples on the Web
Her hardscrabble upbringing in Kentucky, immortalized in her autobiography and its film version (starring Sissy Spacek as Lynn in an Oscar-winning role), seemed to drive her unapologetic approach to music.
—
Lindsay Kusiak, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 May 2025
Shahn was known as a social realist: a painter of hardscrabble life who registered every spasm and twitch of the body politic, from the Great Depression to Vietnam.
—Zachary Fine, New Yorker, 24 June 2025
The symbolism wasn’t lost on him: a kid from a hardscrabble area in his hometown now working in the posh tiny country perched on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
—Andy Greder, Twin Cities, 13 June 2025
Dalton developed a passion for hardscrabble rural agriculture in his first job, teaching biology and chemistry in a secondary school in Kenya.
—Peter Slevin, New Yorker, 9 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for hardscrabble
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Lindsay Kusiak, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 May 2025
Shahn was known as a social realist: a painter of hardscrabble life who registered every spasm and twitch of the body politic, from the Great Depression to Vietnam.
—Zachary Fine, New Yorker, 24 June 2025
The symbolism wasn’t lost on him: a kid from a hardscrabble area in his hometown now working in the posh tiny country perched on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
—Andy Greder, Twin Cities, 13 June 2025
Dalton developed a passion for hardscrabble rural agriculture in his first job, teaching biology and chemistry in a secondary school in Kenya.
—Peter Slevin, New Yorker, 9 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for hardscrabble
Cite this Entry
“Hardscrabble.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hardscrabble. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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