hardship

noun

hard·​ship ˈhärd-ˌship 

1

: privation, suffering

recovering from financial hardship

2

: something that causes or entails suffering or privation

the hardships of life on the frontier

Synonyms of hardship

• difficulty

Examples of hardship in a Sentence

He had suffered through considerable hardship.

The city has been experiencing a period of financial hardship.

They had to endure the hardships of life on the frontier.

Recent Examples on the Web

Padilla of Public Works acknowledged the hardship, but said the benefits would outweigh the short-term pain. — Barbara Kingsley-Wilson, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2026

This past June, the Two Ten Foundation‘s annual gala drew 750 people and raised nearly $650,000 to fund emergency relief, hardship and education programs. — Vicki M. Young, Footwear News, 24 Sep. 2026

But middle-income renters — defined by the research group as adults making between $31,300 and $62,600 for a single-person household or between $53,300 and $106,600 for a family of three — experienced the sharpest increase in financial hardship. — Marissa J. Lang, NPR, 23 Sep. 2026

Though now joining the collections of major museums, in the 1970s his artworks depicting the hardship and life of Indigenous Bolivians were rescued from the trash outside his former Manhattan studio, according to multiple accounts. — Devorah Lauter, ARTnews.com, 23 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Kids Definition

hardship

noun

hard·​ship ˈhärd-ˌship 

1

: pain entry 1 sense 2a, privation

2

: something that causes pain or loss