hardscrabble

adjective

hard·​scrab·​ble ˈhärd-ˌskra-bəl How to pronounce hardscrabble (audio)
1
a
: being or relating to a place of barren or barely arable soil
a hardscrabble farm
hardscrabble prairies
b
: getting a meager living from poor soil
a hardscrabble farmer
2
: marked by poverty
a hardscrabble cotton town
a hardscrabble childhood

Examples of hardscrabble in a Sentence

He lived a hardscrabble life. it was hard to eke out even a bare existence on the hardscrabble lands
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Shahn was known as a social realist: a painter of hardscrabble life who registered every spasm and twitch of the body politic, from the Great Depression to Vietnam. Zachary Fine, New Yorker, 24 June 2025 The symbolism wasn’t lost on him: a kid from a hardscrabble area in his hometown now working in the posh tiny country perched on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Andy Greder, Twin Cities, 13 June 2025 Dalton developed a passion for hardscrabble rural agriculture in his first job, teaching biology and chemistry in a secondary school in Kenya. Peter Slevin, New Yorker, 9 June 2025 And while the epicenter of this movement is in Hardwick, Vermont – a town of 1,000 people that has transformed itself from a hardscrabble rural hamlet into a mecca of food and sustainability – the impacts go well beyond it. Riley Robinson, Christian Science Monitor, 8 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for hardscrabble

Word History

First Known Use

1879, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of hardscrabble was in 1879

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Cite this Entry

“Hardscrabble.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hardscrabble. Accessed 28 Jun. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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