bear the brunt

Idioms  

1. Put up with the worst of some bad circumstance, as in It was the secretary who had to bear the brunt of the doctor's anger. This idiom uses brunt in the sense of “the main force of an enemy's attack,” which was sustained by the front lines of the defenders. [Second half of 1700s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bear the brunt

They write in a note that housing and consumption will bear the brunt of a slowdown in growth to 1.2% by the end of the year, from 2.6% in 2025.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026

“This dynamic also means we expect to see consumer sentiment continue to grind lower, as middle- and lower-income households bear the brunt of inflation’s impact on their household budgets,” RBC writes.

From Barron's ● May 13, 2026

It forecasts that the NHS will bear the brunt of the financial burden – £200,000 in the first year of the legislation, rising to as much as £342,973 after 20 years.

From BBC ● Mar. 17, 2026

“We bear the brunt of everything. This is really a layered tsunami of hurt.”

From Salon ● Mar. 17, 2026

He couldn’t leave his siblings and his mother behind to bear the brunt of “Reverend Rambo,” as he and his sisters jokingly called him.

From "Where Things Come Back" by John Corey Whaley

Related Words

• brave
• encounter
• experience
• face
• feel
• go through
• know
• ride out
• suffer
• sustain
• tolerate
• undergo
• weather
• withstand