Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The condition of lacking necessities or comforts; privation or suffering.
  • noun A thing or circumstance that causes ongoing or persistent suffering or difficulty: synonym: difficulty.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Severe labor or want; suffering or excessive toil, physical or mental; adversity; affliction; also, anything that exacts physical or mental endurance.
  • noun Hard treatment; injury; oppression; injustice.
  • noun Synonyms Trial, burden, grievance, trouble.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun That which is hard to bear, as toil, privation, injury, injustice, etc.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun countable or uncountable Difficulty or trouble; hard times.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a state of misfortune or affliction
  • noun something that causes or entails suffering
  • noun something hard to endure

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English herdschipe, hardischipe, equivalent to hard +‎ -ship.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word hardship.

Examples

  • I have read quite a few of good craft books, but the main hardship is to put those things in practice day after day, especially because sometimes, it is quite difficult to DO those things, even though one understand the theory.

    Writer Unboxed » Blog Archive » Three things 2010

  • Therefore it follows that zombies will be ascendant in times of economic plenty (bull markets, "The Great Moderation"); whereas vampires will be ascendant in times of economic woe, when we suspect that our hardship is the result of betrayal and exploitation by the rich and powerful.

    Zombies versus vampires in popular culture: an economic approach amuchmoreexotic 2008

  • I-- well, we're in, I guess, classified what they call a hardship case.

    CNN Transcript May 17, 2009 2009

  • I-- well, we're in, I guess, classified what they call a hardship case.

    CNN Transcript May 14, 2009 2009

  • I-- well, we're in, I guess, classified what they call a hardship case.

    CNN Transcript May 16, 2009 2009

  • That Myanmar refugees and undocumented migrant workers face hardship is well known among Malaysians.

    Global Voices in English » Malaysia: Humans as Commodities 2009

  • We know what an adjustment and near-term hardship it will be for us to retrace this tragic path that was forged without our permission.

    Georgianne Nienaber: Gulf Research Pilot Troubled by Oil Sighting in Macondo Prospect Georgianne Nienaber 2011

  • Same hardship remuneration applies, while people incrementally, with six month at a time decreases in hardship assistance, learn to adopt.

    Matthew Yglesias » Endgame 2010

  • I believe the Icelandic people are willing and able to undergo hardship to help our country recover from the catastrophic collapse, as long as the hardship is spread throughout the population, and those who unjustly profited from their decisions are put in their place.

    Iris Erlingsdottir: Iceland Is Simmering Iris Erlingsdottir 2010

  • I believe the Icelandic people are willing and able to undergo hardship to help our country recover from the catastrophic collapse, as long as the hardship is spread throughout the population, and those who unjustly profited from their decisions are put in their place.

    Iris Erlingsdottir: Iceland Is Simmering Iris Erlingsdottir 2010

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Said of the Titanic.

    October 10, 2008