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Synonyms

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

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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

From Salon • Mar. 17, 2026

Families of those with dementia "bear the brunt" with little information or support, and people diagnosed with MND, whose life-expectancy is short, still face multiple assessments and means tests.

From BBC • Mar. 5, 2026

The most immediate danger would be to Iran’s Kurdish population itself, which could bear the brunt of a possible retaliation by Iran’s security forces.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 5, 2026

Nearly 3.8 billion people could face extreme heat by 2050 and while tropical countries will bear the brunt cooler regions will also need to adapt, scientists said Monday.

From Barron's • Jan. 26, 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

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.