Word family noun hardship hardness hardiness adjective hard hardened hardy verb harden adverb hard hardly
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishhardshiphard‧ship /ˈhɑːdʃɪp $ ˈhɑːrd-/ ●○○ noun [countable, uncountable] POORsomething that makes your life difficult or unpleasant, especially a lack of money, or the condition of having a difficult life an economic policy that caused great hardship for many people Many students are suffering severe financial hardship.hardship of the hardships of warCOLLOCATIONSverbscause/create hardshipThe severe winter caused great hardship in remote villages.experience/suffer hardship (also endure hardship formal)Many pensioners experienced hardship paying the tax.face hardship (=will be affected by a difficult or painful situation)One in four families in Britain is facing financial hardship.inflict hardship on somebody (=make someone be in a difficult or painful situation, used for emphasis)Civil war has inflicted hardship and suffering on thousands of people.alleviate hardship formal (=make it less severe)The program aims to alleviate hardship among the poorest sections of society.adjectives great/immense/deep hardship (=a lot of hardship)In the early years, the settlers faced great hardship.severe/serious/extreme hardship (=very bad )The 1930s brought severe hardship to the Midwest, especially for Oklahoma.economic/financial hardshipThe closure of the steelworks caused economic hardship for the town.considerable/substantial hardshipIt is a region of considerable hardship and poverty.real/genuine hardshipProlonged illness can cause real hardship for many families.unnecessary hardshipThe ban is causing unnecessary hardship for fishermen.undue hardship law (=more than is reasonable)His deportation would pose undue hardship on family members left in the United States.physical hardship (=when you lack the things that your body needs)The people of the war-torn region face severe physical hardship.personal hardship (=hardship that affects you rather than other people or people in general)The personal hardship experienced by my client includes the loss of his home, his job and his family.material hardship (=a serious lack of money or of things that you need in order to live)Emergency government aid helped to relieve the flood victims' material hardship.phrasesin times of hardshipIn times of hardship, your family may be the only people you can go to for help. Examples from the Corpus
hardship• Serving a company in a foreign land, for example, is no longer either a privilege or a hardship.• They lead medieval-style lives of appalling hardship.• Most travellers suffered appalling hardship and danger, none more so than the great Victorian explorers.• But hardships are part of war, and war is an aggregation of hardships.• economic hardships• Many students suffer financial hardship.• Rising food prices caused great hardship for most of the population.• During the war we faced many hardships.• For his family it was a life of hardship and sacrifice.• The idea was to talk to survivors of life's hardships, from concentration camp victims to cancer sufferers.• The hardship and neglect suffered by the sick was confirmed by a report published by the Lancet in 1866.suffering ... hardship• Excessive reliance on corporate entities managing only the costs creates suffering and hardship for patients and their families. 