Synonyms of hardscrabble

hardscrabble

adjective

ˈhärd-ˌskra-bəl 

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• desolate
• barren
• impoverished
• bleak
• poor
• waste
• bony
• unfertile
• stark
• unproductive
• infertile
• desert
• dry
• inhospitable
• dead
• lifeless
• thirsty
• uncultivable
• arid
• sunbaked
• depleted
• drained
• exhausted
• droughty
• spent
• reduced
• consumed
• diminished
• enfeebled
• untillable
• waterless
• debilitated
• rainless
• dried-up
• sere
• parched
• baked
• dehydrated
• expended
• lessened
• bankrupted
• used up

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• fertile
• rich
• productive
• fruitful
• lush
• luxuriant
• arable
• green
• tillable
• verdant
• sylvan

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of hardscrabble

These songs were less detailed than the ballads but conveyed intense emotion gleaned from an often hardscrabble existence. — Ted Olson, The Conversation, 2 July 2026

In this new collection, Georgia poet laureate Chelsea Rathburn explores a hardscrabble childhood in Florida and her family of colorful characters including a sometimes-homeless bag lady and a notorious bank robber. — Suzanne Van Atten, AJC.com, 21 June 2026

When The Last Ship, a musical that serves as an elegy to Wallsend, the hardscrabble Northern England shipyard town Sting grew up in, debuted on Broadway in 2014, the critical reception was disappointing. — Devon Ivie, Vulture, 4 June 2026

Instructed to write hillbilly music for hardscrabble whites, and racy R&B for the working-class black crowd, Q began to sell traditional country under the table using his mother’s name — even to one of the labels’ presidents, for his other artists to perform. — Jonathan Rowe, SPIN, 1 June 2026