as in headache
something that is a source of irritation
the constant need to cut costs was a hair shirt, but one that the theater company had to live with
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of hair shirt
Four years later, an America-first cultural crackdown has freed the Met to cast off the hair shirt of reckoning and celebrate its diverse holdings in a spirit of defiance.
—
Julian Lucas, New Yorker, 30 June 2025
In an area that used to produce influential Catholic churchmen the way the Dodgers churned out Rookies of the Year, Gomez has amounted to the living equivalent of a hair shirt: a mode of piety that serves no one but the wearer.
—Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 19 June 2025
Erin Maglaque’s review of a new book on women and sound in Renaissance Italy peels back the layers of a less-talked about form of religious asceticism and control, one where there are no hair shirts or decade-long fasts, just… silence.
—Michelle Weber, Longreads, 15 Nov. 2024
Talking about wedding vows was like donning a hair shirt.
—Leslie Jamison, The New Yorker, 15 Jan. 2024
The novel aesthetic of Art Nouveau wrapped modernism in the garb of pleasure, instead of in the hair shirt of social obligation and moral uplift.
—Regina Cole, Forbes, 1 Jan. 2023
Few people’s utopia involves wearing a hair shirt and giving up culinary pleasures; utopia and sacrifice are, for many, antonyms.
—Jan Dutkiewicz, The New Republic, 20 Oct. 2022
Julian Lucas, New Yorker, 30 June 2025
In an area that used to produce influential Catholic churchmen the way the Dodgers churned out Rookies of the Year, Gomez has amounted to the living equivalent of a hair shirt: a mode of piety that serves no one but the wearer.
—Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 19 June 2025
Erin Maglaque’s review of a new book on women and sound in Renaissance Italy peels back the layers of a less-talked about form of religious asceticism and control, one where there are no hair shirts or decade-long fasts, just… silence.
—Michelle Weber, Longreads, 15 Nov. 2024
Talking about wedding vows was like donning a hair shirt.
—Leslie Jamison, The New Yorker, 15 Jan. 2024
The novel aesthetic of Art Nouveau wrapped modernism in the garb of pleasure, instead of in the hair shirt of social obligation and moral uplift.
—Regina Cole, Forbes, 1 Jan. 2023
Few people’s utopia involves wearing a hair shirt and giving up culinary pleasures; utopia and sacrifice are, for many, antonyms.
—Jan Dutkiewicz, The New Republic, 20 Oct. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hair shirt
Noun
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On a 50% discount right now, the TP-Link Archer AXE75 upgrades your home Wi-Fi without the setup headache.—
Jade Chung-Lee,
PC Magazine,
8 Oct. 2025
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Soon, Disley learned that Chewy was in the nurse's office frequently — sometimes three times a day — due to headaches and stomachaches.—
Rachel Raposas,
PEOPLE,
8 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Often a thorn in the side of leadership, Massie is unlikely to strike any deal with leadership to avoid a vote on releasing the Epstein files.—
Rachel Schilke,
The Washington Examiner,
11 Oct. 2025
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Buds will fail to open properly, and some of the canes will have multitudes of thorns.—
Neil Sperry,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
10 Oct. 2025
Noun
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But Bickel and his team uncovered treasure within what might normally be thought of as a nuisance.—
Ashley Strickland,
CNN Money,
8 Oct. 2025
-
For the cover of the October 13, 2025, issue, the artist Brian Stauffer chose to see the beauty in what many consider a noisy nuisance.—
Françoise Mouly,
New Yorker,
6 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The comments illustrate the frustration as the four remaining controllers waited on a regional air traffic control center across the state to clear planes to enter the airspace.—
Dalia Faheid,
CNN Money,
8 Oct. 2025
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In the film, directed by Mike Judge, Peter Gibbons (Livingston) and his coworkers, Michael Bolton (David Herman) and Samir Nagheenanajar (Ajay Naidu), enjoy the last day at their job by taking out years of frustrations on their frequently malfunctioning office printer.—
Angela Andaloro,
PEOPLE,
8 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Dreaming of worry-free cleaning?—
Sian Babish,
PEOPLE,
11 Oct. 2025
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Washington — Persistent worries about the higher cost of living and few job opportunities pushed consumer sentiment down to its seventh-lowest level in October, on records going back to 1952.—
Bryan Mena,
CNN Money,
10 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hair shirt.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hair%20shirt. Accessed 15 Oct. 2025.
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