hardscrabble

[hahrd-skrab-uhl]

adjective

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

   the hardscrabble existence of mountainside farmers.

hardscrabble

/ ˈhɑːdˌskræbəl /

noun

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

2. great effort made in the face of difficulties

Word History and Origins

Origin of hardscrabble¹

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

Example Sentences

Patti Smith, the celebrated rock poet who won a National Book Award for ‘Just Kids,’ revisits her hardscrabble childhood, success and the loss of her husband, Fred Sonic Smith, in ‘Bread of Angels.’

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Additionally, her hardscrabble background growing up in rural Appalachia without running water provided an authentic up-by-her-bootstraps story.

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The year is 1971 and Easy, now 50, is beset by memories of his hardscrabble Southern youth and first loves before he enlisted to serve in World War II in Europe and Africa.

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The hardscrabble lifestyle has made Ginny wise beyond her years, though she’s not immune to mercurial teen mood swings and the sophomoric drama of high school.

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The script pushes too hard to make Spike naive — blank and moldable — instead of what narrative logic tells us he is, the hardscrabble child of two stunted children.

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