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
The candidates vied to establish their relatability, that most valuable of campaign currencies, by describing their own hardscrabble experiences.
—
Mark Z. Barabak, Mercury News, 25 Feb. 2026
The candidates vied to establish their relatability, that most valuable of campaign currencies, by describing their own hardscrabble experiences.
—Los Angeles Times, 22 Feb. 2026
Walters had a hardscrabble upbringing in Munfordville, Kentucky.
—Dan Piepenbring, New Yorker, 4 Feb. 2026
The first pictures McCullin took were of hoodlums and down-and-outs, subjects that reflected his own hardscrabble background.
—Andrew Pulver, Air Mail, 31 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for hardscrabble
Mark Z. Barabak, Mercury News, 25 Feb. 2026
The candidates vied to establish their relatability, that most valuable of campaign currencies, by describing their own hardscrabble experiences.
—Los Angeles Times, 22 Feb. 2026
Walters had a hardscrabble upbringing in Munfordville, Kentucky.
—Dan Piepenbring, New Yorker, 4 Feb. 2026
The first pictures McCullin took were of hoodlums and down-and-outs, subjects that reflected his own hardscrabble background.
—Andrew Pulver, Air Mail, 31 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for hardscrabble
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hardscrabble
Adjective
-
And that’s become a background topic this week, how a once-sumptuous secondary ticket market has become desolate.—
Gabriel Burns,
AJC.com,
10 Apr. 2026
-
Eastern New Mexico — dry, desolate — looks and feels very much like an appendage of West Texas.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
8 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
It cannot be maintained in such barren ground.—
David B Mcgarry,
Oc Register,
9 Apr. 2026
-
Haggerty noted what the Artemis crew saw on the moon’s surface, including steep canyon walls and barren wasteland.—
Andrew J. Campa,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
As Rose’s impoverished yet imperious mother Ruth, Parson’s dry deliveries offer great comic ballast to this ship of fools.—
Frank Rizzo,
Variety,
13 Apr. 2026
-
Jack grew up in an impoverished single-parent household and David is from a wealthy Texan family.—
Cressida Leyshon,
New Yorker,
12 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
That’s partly because their bleak ending feels like a foregone conclusion from the start, even as Levinson’s frequently funny script crackles with comic depravity.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
10 Apr. 2026
-
While the subject matter is bleak, Almodóvar balances the darkness with a tenderness and sensitivity that comes from a career of exploring women's lives at their most intimate.—
Kevin Jacobsen,
Entertainment Weekly,
9 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
These closures reflect various factors, including poor investment returns, a lack of government support for refinery upgrades and higher carbon and energy costs.—
Ian King,
CNBC,
15 Apr. 2026
-
After McCandless and her council colleagues approved the sweeping tax breaks, King consistently spoke on how its planning process exemplified poor communication from the city, saying that current leaders should have advocated for a better deal for Independence.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
14 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Hardscrabble.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hardscrabble. Accessed 18 Apr. 2026.
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