Synonyms for hardship
Most common
suffering affliction trouble misfortune grimness hardness distress toil
Synonyms by meaning
Noun
1. Suffering — A burden, a source of difficulty that could impose a barrier
suffering, affliction, trouble, misfortune, calamity, grievance, misery, burden, sorrow, oppression, grief, weariness, problem, annoyance, trial, wrong, visitation, aggrievance, undelight, sadness, woe, unhappiness
2. Grimness
grimness, hardness, severity, rigor US, rigour UK, asperity formal, rigorousness, rigourousness, severeness
3. Distress — difficulty or trouble; hard times
Other
Definitions
- n. 1
Difficulty or trouble; hard times.
He has survived periods of financial hardship before.
- n. 2
A burden, a source of difficulty that could impose a barrier.
When you visit the museum, we invite you to make a donation of $10 if this will not be a hardship.
Forms
- Plural
- hardships → sufferings, afflictions, troubles, misfortunes…
Example sentences
- suffering I have a headache and I am suffering from a cough.
- misfortune What greater misfortune is there than to go blind?
- calamity The anticipation is always worse than the calamity.
- affliction That which is a feast to one is an affliction to another.
- severity The doctor explained the severity of Antonio’s case.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| hardship | falling | |
| suffering | rising | |
| misfortune | steady | |
| calamity | steady | |
| affliction | rising | |
| severity | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 3 letters
- woe1
- 4 letters
- toil1
- 5 letters
- wrong1, trial2, grief1, rigor2
- 6 letters
- burden2, misery3, sorrow2, rigour
- 7 letters
- problem2, trouble2, sadness2, fatigue2, anguish2, torment2, travail2
- 8 letters
- distress2, severity4, calamity4, hardness2, grimness2, asperity4
- 9 letters
- suffering3, adversity4, annoyance3, grievance2, weariness3, privation3, undelight
- 10 letters
- difficulty4, oppression3, misfortune3, visitation4, affliction3, severeness
- 11 letters
- unhappiness4, aggrievance
- 12 letters
- rigorousness
- 13 letters
- rigourousness
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (trial2 = 2 syllables).