the hard way
noun
: in a way that involves difficult or painful experiences
He found out the hard way that crime doesn't pay.
She insisted on doing things the hard way.
Examples of the hard way in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
In 2008, the world learnt the cost of financial opacity the hard way.
—
Jemma Green, Forbes.com, 8 June 2025
Eve must learn the hard way that her decisions have consequences, deadly ones.
—Shannon Carlin, Time, 6 June 2025
Beware, this gauze is a tad delicate, as Alpert learned the hard way after her cat caused a few snags from their untrimmed claws.
—Nashia Baker, Architectural Digest, 6 June 2025
There were a lot of Latino students at Baker, but Natalia learned the hard way that few of them spoke anything close to fluent Spanish.
—Megan Greenwell, Rolling Stone, 5 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for the hard way
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Jemma Green, Forbes.com, 8 June 2025
Eve must learn the hard way that her decisions have consequences, deadly ones.
—Shannon Carlin, Time, 6 June 2025
Beware, this gauze is a tad delicate, as Alpert learned the hard way after her cat caused a few snags from their untrimmed claws.
—Nashia Baker, Architectural Digest, 6 June 2025
There were a lot of Latino students at Baker, but Natalia learned the hard way that few of them spoke anything close to fluent Spanish.
—Megan Greenwell, Rolling Stone, 5 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for the hard way
Cite this Entry
“The hard way.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/the%20hard%20way. Accessed 13 Jun. 2025.
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