hardship

[hahrd-ship]

noun

1. a condition that is difficult to endure; suffering; deprivation; oppression.

   a life of hardship.

   Synonyms: misfortune, suffering, affliction, trouble
   Antonyms: ease

2. an instance or cause of this; something hard to bear, as a deprivation, lack of comfort, or constant toil or danger.

   They faced bravely the many hardships of frontier life.

hardship

/ ˈhɑːdʃɪp /

noun

1. conditions of life difficult to endure

2. something that causes suffering or privation

Word History and Origins

Origin of hardship¹

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English; hard + -ship

Synonym Study

Hardship, privation, austerity refer to a condition hard to endure. Hardship applies to a circumstance in which excessive and painful effort of some kind is required, as enduring acute discomfort from cold, or battling over rough terrain. Privation has particular reference to lack of food, clothing, and other necessities or comforts. Austerity not only includes the ideas of privation and hardship but also implies deliberate control of emotional reactions to these.

Example Sentences

For Ukraine, despite all the hardship and the mounting losses, the situation so far is nowhere near a defeat.

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The author’s family saga unfolds the hardship and beauty of life in a rural corner of Kentucky.

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I watched the British TV show “Call the Midwife” and let myself tear up when the baby was delivered and placed in its mother’s waiting arms, after she’d navigated whatever hardships had come her way.

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Diana Ross made an auspicious feature acting debut in this sprawling biopic about the hardships and triumphs of celebrated jazz singer Billie Holiday.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“Sonoda-san especially, he came from a different industry and I would think he endured a lot of hardship. But he didn’t let on about that being the case.”

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Related Words

• adversity 
• calamity 
• catastrophe 
• danger 
• difficulty 
• disaster 
• discomfort 
• fatigue 
• grief 
• hazard 
• injury 
• misery 
• misfortune 
• oppression 
• peril 
• persecution 
• sorrow 
• suffering 
• torment 
• trouble