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
Her hardscrabble upbringing in Kentucky, immortalized in her autobiography and its film version (starring Sissy Spacek as Lynn in an Oscar-winning role), seemed to drive her unapologetic approach to music.
—
Lindsay Kusiak, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 May 2025
Shahn was known as a social realist: a painter of hardscrabble life who registered every spasm and twitch of the body politic, from the Great Depression to Vietnam.
—Zachary Fine, New Yorker, 24 June 2025
The symbolism wasn’t lost on him: a kid from a hardscrabble area in his hometown now working in the posh tiny country perched on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
—Andy Greder, Twin Cities, 13 June 2025
Dalton developed a passion for hardscrabble rural agriculture in his first job, teaching biology and chemistry in a secondary school in Kenya.
—Peter Slevin, New Yorker, 9 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for hardscrabble
Lindsay Kusiak, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 May 2025
Shahn was known as a social realist: a painter of hardscrabble life who registered every spasm and twitch of the body politic, from the Great Depression to Vietnam.
—Zachary Fine, New Yorker, 24 June 2025
The symbolism wasn’t lost on him: a kid from a hardscrabble area in his hometown now working in the posh tiny country perched on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
—Andy Greder, Twin Cities, 13 June 2025
Dalton developed a passion for hardscrabble rural agriculture in his first job, teaching biology and chemistry in a secondary school in Kenya.
—Peter Slevin, New Yorker, 9 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for hardscrabble
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hardscrabble
Adjective
-
Padam and Tulsi, whose remote Himalayan village has become increasingly desolate as families migrate to cities, leaving the pair to wonder who will perform their last rites.—
Variety Staff,
Variety,
25 July 2025
-
Imagine how desolate the Democrats are that a Democrat running on affordability is an anti-establishment Democrat.—
Ted Reed,
Forbes.com,
16 July 2025
Adjective
-
Will parts of Norway look like Nauru, a formerly lush tropical paradise stripped of its phosphate rock, and now a barren, impoverished cautionary tale?—
Suwanna Gauntlett Upjohn,
Forbes.com,
21 July 2025
-
Likewise, food stamps are still going to be provided to the disabled, families with young children, and the impoverished elderly, even if Democrats want to pretend otherwise.—
Frank Miele,
The Orlando Sentinel,
20 July 2025
Adjective
-
Then there is Canada and Greenland’s beef over the uninhabited Hans Island, a barren spit in the Kennedy Channel.—
Charlie Campbell,
Time,
25 July 2025
-
Brown, barren, patchy spots in your lawn can be unsightly.—
Cody Godwin,
USA Today,
24 July 2025
Adjective
-
The reversal is notable because this traditionally bleak indicator had been trending more positively under Trump's second term—until now.—
Martha McHardy,
MSNBC Newsweek,
18 July 2025
-
Restaurants were closed, staff were furloughed, and the broad outlook on the hospitality industry’s future was, in a word, bleak.—
Lela London,
Forbes.com,
18 July 2025
Adjective
-
Spurred by climate change, Canadian wildfires have increasingly exacerbated poor air quality across Milwaukee and southern Wisconsin.—
Maia Pandey,
jsonline.com,
24 July 2025
-
Of course, poor Michael Landon had passed away way too young.—
Angela Andaloro,
People.com,
23 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hardscrabble.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hardscrabble. Accessed 3 Aug. 2025.
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