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]

---

Example Sentences

In other words, they hit areas that don’t typically bear the brunt of the Santa Ana’s strength — like Altadena and Pacific Palisades.

From Los Angeles Times

“In 2025, some firms tried to bear the brunt of the tariffs themselves, but they will find that’s not feasible over the long run.”

From MarketWatch

Professor emeritus Brian Levin, founding director at the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, said “socially scapegoated groups” bear the brunt of violent hate crimes.

From Los Angeles Times

In 2020 the National Audit Office warned that without preparation for contract end "there is a significant risk that vital infrastructure such as schools and hospitals will not be returned to the public sector in the right condition and taxpayers and service users will bear the brunt of additional costs".

From BBC

It may now be the white-collar sector’s turn to bear the brunt of economic dislocation.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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