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
State Republican chairman Ben Proto, who will oversee the convention, pointed to New Britain city hall because it is now run by a Democratic mayor and former state legislator who took over when Stewart declined to seek re-election and left office in the hardscrabble city.
—
Christopher Keating,
Hartford Courant,
11 May 2026
Hoyos has come a long way from a hardscrabble childhood.
—
Miami Herald,
16 Apr. 2026
Through it all, however, West struggled with depression and a sense of self-loathing, and had trouble with intimacy, much of it a by-product of a hardscrabble childhood in West Virginia with a domineering father.
—
Stuart Miller,
Los Angeles Times,
14 Apr. 2026
Once ekeing out a hardscrabble existence on the margins of the Short Creek FLDS offshoot community, Samuel Bateman eventually rushed to fill its center.
—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
8 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for hardscrabble
Christopher Keating,
Hartford Courant,
11 May 2026
Hoyos has come a long way from a hardscrabble childhood.
—
Miami Herald,
16 Apr. 2026
Through it all, however, West struggled with depression and a sense of self-loathing, and had trouble with intimacy, much of it a by-product of a hardscrabble childhood in West Virginia with a domineering father.
—
Stuart Miller,
Los Angeles Times,
14 Apr. 2026
Once ekeing out a hardscrabble existence on the margins of the Short Creek FLDS offshoot community, Samuel Bateman eventually rushed to fill its center.
—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
8 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for hardscrabble
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hardscrabble
Adjective
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Wilderness Little Kulala is about a 45-minute drive outside the park, located in a seemingly desolate rocky plain with harsh, jagged mountains interspersed throughout the flatlands.
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Most of the women disappeared between 2000 and 2010, and most of their remains were found on a desolate parkway not far from Long Island’s Gilgo Beach, some 50 miles (80 kilometers) from Manhattan.
Adjective
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The missile flew northeast and then banked and began flying in loops for hours over the barren, frozen landscape.
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Some would eventually be moved to a cruise ship rented by the government, while others were stationed at nondescript military outposts that sprung up in the barren hills around the edges of Nuuk.
Adjective
-
South Africa has a history of xenophobic violence as migrants from poor nations like Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi generally end up settling in impoverished communities in South Africa where unemployment and frustrations are high.
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Dreesen moved to Los Angeles, living on $1 a day and hitchhiking to The Comedy Store, begging for a set and bonding with other impoverished comedians.
Adjective
-
My father is a can-do, glass-half-full guy, a quality that has always felt like a rebuke of my own bleak world view, which makes the poor man literally wince.
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The numbers were even bleaker in other categories.
Adjective
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Rebecca Lowe joins Dan Patrick to discuss some of the top storylines around the World Cup, including Cristiano Ronaldo's poor play to start, the United States' potential and more.
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Will the gap between rural and urban America – and the gap between rich and poor America – decline or grow?
Cite this Entry
“Hardscrabble.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hardscrabble. Accessed 27 Jun. 2026.
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