the hard way
noun
: in a way that involves difficult or painful experiences
He found out the hard way that crime doesn't pay.
She insisted on doing things the hard way.
Examples of the hard way in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
This unimaginably tragic event is a lesson learned the hard way.
—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 12 Mar. 2026
While the shale revolution — with new fracking methods extracting more oil from Texas, New Mexico and North Dakota — has pushed the US to become the biggest oil producer in the world, this country has learned the hard way that not all oil is the same.
—Ella Nilsen, CNN Money, 9 Mar. 2026
Lottery winners of prizes past have learned, sometimes the hard way, the value of anonymity when coming into a large amount of money.
—Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA Today, 9 Mar. 2026
Kempczinski is far from the first fast food chief executive to discover the hard way that their off-the-cuff remarks can take on a second life across social media.
—Rachel Ventresca, Fortune, 6 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for the hard way
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Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 12 Mar. 2026
While the shale revolution — with new fracking methods extracting more oil from Texas, New Mexico and North Dakota — has pushed the US to become the biggest oil producer in the world, this country has learned the hard way that not all oil is the same.
—Ella Nilsen, CNN Money, 9 Mar. 2026
Lottery winners of prizes past have learned, sometimes the hard way, the value of anonymity when coming into a large amount of money.
—Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA Today, 9 Mar. 2026
Kempczinski is far from the first fast food chief executive to discover the hard way that their off-the-cuff remarks can take on a second life across social media.
—Rachel Ventresca, Fortune, 6 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for the hard way
Cite this Entry
“The hard way.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/the%20hard%20way. Accessed 21 Mar. 2026.
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