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.

That’s when the cold patience and hard-won experience of France’s most successful team finally shone through.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 30, 2026

Which manager would risk a hard-won reputation on working in the volatile, shambolic environment that currently characterises Chelsea?

From BBC • Apr. 22, 2026

The fighting has hurt their oil sales and is threatening hard-won reputations as oases of calm that are safe for foreign investment.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 13, 2026

Issa, who teaches Kurdish, said he feared they would lose their autonomous administration's hard-won gains.

From Barron's • Feb. 20, 2026

Smelling to the sky, bleeding in the hand, and robbed of part of my hard-won food, I threw wood on the fire and sent an enormous shaft of light into the night.

From "My Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George

hard-won

Example Sentences

Related Words