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]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bear the brunt

“This dynamic also means we expect to see consumer sentiment continue to grind lower, as middle- and lower-income households bear the brunt of inflation’s impact on their household budgets,” RBC writes.

From Barron's ● May 13, 2026

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

From Salon ● Mar. 17, 2026

Analysts at TD Cowen said in a recent note that they expect importers and exporters to bear the brunt of conflict-related shipping delays and cost increases in the form of fees and surcharges.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 10, 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

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

Related Words

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