as in desolate
producing inferior or only a small amount of vegetation
it was hard to eke out even a bare existence on the hardscrabble lands
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Recent Examples of hardscrabble
Since the mid 1800s, these hardscrabble enterprises have lain abandoned.
—
Henry Wismayer, Travel + Leisure, 7 Jan. 2026
In adapting Denis Johnson’s 2011 novella, director Clint Bentley made the perfect choice in casting Edgerton as Robert Grainier, a solid working man in hardscrabble early 20th-century Idaho.
—Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 11 Dec. 2025
The hardscrabble landscape suits its subjects.
—Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 9 Dec. 2025
The scheme led to one of the companies, then-known as Hometown International, having a market capitalization of more than $100 million despite owning only one small, money-losing delicatessen in the hardscrabble south Jersey town of Paulsboro.
—Dan Mangan, CNBC, 24 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hardscrabble
Henry Wismayer, Travel + Leisure, 7 Jan. 2026
In adapting Denis Johnson’s 2011 novella, director Clint Bentley made the perfect choice in casting Edgerton as Robert Grainier, a solid working man in hardscrabble early 20th-century Idaho.
—Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 11 Dec. 2025
The hardscrabble landscape suits its subjects.
—Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 9 Dec. 2025
The scheme led to one of the companies, then-known as Hometown International, having a market capitalization of more than $100 million despite owning only one small, money-losing delicatessen in the hardscrabble south Jersey town of Paulsboro.
—Dan Mangan, CNBC, 24 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hardscrabble
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hardscrabble
Adjective
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While Scarry’s books present such catastrophes with bright colors and good humor, Gomez undermines this cheer by superimposing on the mural a nearly all-black painting of a desolate tent encampment in front of a home destroyed by the Eaton fire.—
Sharon Mizota,
Los Angeles Times,
16 Feb. 2026
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The clash of beauty and filth is well suited for Brontë’s desolate tale of romance in a tempestuous climate, where Cathy is constantly caught between Victorian propriety and her baser, wilder nature.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
9 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The few remaining individuals live in barren, rugged terrain at high elevations.—
Clara Harter,
Los Angeles Times,
11 Feb. 2026
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In other games during the barren run, chances have been created and squandered.—
Andy Naylor,
New York Times,
9 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Pilgrims also threw in coins as offerings, some later retrieved by impoverished people to survive.—
Norma Meyer,
Oc Register,
4 Feb. 2026
-
The penultimate episode saw Deathclaws descending on Freeside, an impoverished community on the fringes of New Vegas.—
Randall Colburn,
Entertainment Weekly,
4 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
The dating scene is bleak, or at least increasingly difficult to navigate.—
Alyssa Goldberg,
USA Today,
14 Feb. 2026
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But none of them have felt as bleak or despairing as Israeli director Anat Even’s scathing cinematic essay, Collapse (Effondrement).—
Jordan Mintzer,
HollywoodReporter,
14 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Policymakers globally are increasingly worried that the unequal adoption of AI risks widening income and development gaps between rich and poor countries.—
Hanna Ziady,
CNN Money,
18 Feb. 2026
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In November, Jesse Jackon was hospitalized again after suffering a fall while protesting poor campus living conditions with students at Howard University.—
Mary Kekatos,
ABC News,
17 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Hardscrabble.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hardscrabble. Accessed 19 Feb. 2026.
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