hardscrabble

American  

[hahrd-skrab-uhl] / ˈhɑrdˌskræb əl /

adjective

1. providing or yielding meagerly in return for much effort; demanding or unrewarding.

   the hardscrabble existence of mountainside farmers.

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hardscrabble British  

/ ˈhɑːdˌskræbəl /

noun

1. (modifier) (of a place) difficult to make a living in; barren

2. great effort made in the face of difficulties

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Etymology

Origin of hardscrabble

An Americanism dating back to 1795–1805; hard + scrabble

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Explanation

Something described as hardscrabble is difficult and challenging. Many people overcome a hardscrabble childhood and go on to achieve their dreams. During an economic depression, many people's lives become hardscrabble, as they fight to find work, or are unable to pay their bills without working two or three jobs. This sense of struggling just to metaphorically keep your head above water captures the meaning of hardscrabble. It's an early 19th-century coinage, first written in Lewis and Clark's journals, and referring to an imaginary place "where a livelihood may be obtained only under great hardship and difficulty."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hardscrabble

As a precision-minded songwriter, she bestowed a kind of emotional dignity on everyday characters in hardscrabble circumstances; as a glittering pop persona, she called constant attention to the artifice of her own A-list stardom.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

The region's hardscrabble existence is perhaps best illustrated in Dollywood's full-size replica of the humble two-room log cabin where Parton grew up with her 11 brothers and sisters in Locust Ridge, outside Sevierville.

From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026

With the sun setting, he leads his team into a hardscrabble neighbourhood where windows are sealed off behind metal grills, and lips are sealed by fear.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

An exhibition at the Smithsonian American Art Museum offers a nuanced view of the artist, who became beloved for her folksy works during the final decades of her hardscrabble life.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 12, 2026

My father grew up in the Kensington section of Philadelphia, part of the city’s hardscrabble “river wards” that consisted of blocks and blocks of narrow row houses.

From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove

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