hard-won

ADJECTIVE

difficult

Synonyms

STRONGEST

ambitious arduous burdensome challenging crucial demanding laborious onerous painful problematic severe strenuous tough troublesome

WEAK

backbreaker bothersome difficile easier said than done effortful exacting formidable galling gargantuan heavy herculean immense intricate irritating labored no picnic not easy operose problem prohibitive rigid stiff titanic toilsome trying unyielding uphill upstream wearisome

Antonyms

STRONGEST

easy effortless facile helpful nice trivial

WEAK

calm free friendly manageable plain simple sociable straightforward uncomplicated

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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hard-won

On Monday, former President Barack Obama announced he would travel to Detroit to stump for El-Sayed, a hard-won coup for the candidate.

From Slate ● Oct. 6, 2026

Half a century after the last "Cod Wars" with Britain, many Icelanders are reluctant to yield even the tiniest bit of control of their hard-won national waters to Brussels.

From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026

Now, a backlash to the backlash is emerging as cyclists aggressively defend hard-won protected lanes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026

At Crypto.com Arena, the Grammy-winning Dean’s songs of devotion were hard-won.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2026

Another piece of hard-won knowledge I did not care to forget, lest it be impressed upon me again, more forcefully and more permanently.

From "The Shakespeare Stealer" by Gary L. Blackwood

hard-won

Example Sentences

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