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hardscrabble

hard·scrab·ble
H h

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [hahrd-skrab-uh l]
    • /ˈhɑrdˌskræb əl/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [hahrd-skrab-uh l]
    • /ˈhɑrdˌskræb əl/

Definitions of hardscrabble word

  • adjective hardscrabble providing or yielding meagerly in return for much effort; demanding or unrewarding: the hardscrabble existence of mountainside farmers. 1
  • noun hardscrabble Involving hard work and struggle. 1
  • noun hardscrabble (of a place) difficult to make a living in; barren 0
  • noun hardscrabble great effort made in the face of difficulties 0
  • adjective hardscrabble producing or earning only a very small amount; barren 0
See all 5 definitions of hardscrabble

Information block about the term

Origin of hardscrabble

First appearance:

before 1795
One of the 43% newest English words
An Americanism dating back to 1795-1805; hard + scrabble

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Hardscrabble

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Full grammatical hierarchy of Hardscrabble

hardscrabble popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 42% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.
This word is included in each student's vocabulary. Most likely there is at least one movie with this word in the title.

hardscrabble usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Top questions with hardscrabble

  • what does hardscrabble mean?
  • what is hardscrabble?

See also

Matching words

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