hard-knock

American  

[hahrd-nok] / ˈhɑrdˈnɒk /

adjective

1. full of, familiar with, or arising from the experience of hardship and struggle.

   Life in this hard-knock town can be brutal.

   If I learned one thing from my hard-knock mother, it was that the show must always go on.

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Example Sentences

It’s a morality tale about the hard-knock life of a performer that recalls the warm character studies of Ms. Swift’s earlier work.

From The Wall Street Journal

She has credited San Francisco’s “hard-knock politics” as shaping her ambitions and propelling her all the way to the White House as vice president, and now potentially president.

From Los Angeles Times

But when I really close-read Annie’s hard-knock life, I couldn’t help but zero in on how bizarre it is—and how bizarre it is that we still love her so much.

From Slate

I suppose that’s why we continue to blithely share that tune with kids—Annie Jr. remains a popular production in children’s theaters, and though it’s abridged, the junior version features not just “It’s the Hard-Knock Life” but its reprise.

From Slate

An unreliable but exploitable rumor about PJ and Josie’s hard-knock life in juvie leads our heroines to their Big Idea: starting a self-defense club for females, with noble intentions up front but a yen to get close to the gorgeous, popular girls as a bonus.

From Seattle Times

Related Words

• adversity
• grief
• heartache
• misery
• misfortune
• woe