noun A period of severe difficulty, suffering, or lack; hard times.
- He has survived periods of financial hardship before.
- If train services of this kind were to be cut off, without any provision of alternative services, there would, of course, be hardship in some cases.
— , Dr. Beeching previews the plan for British Railways (1962)
- The TUCC's role was to assess what (if any) hardship a BR closure proposal would cause, and to make recommendations to ministers who would have the final say.
— Philip Haigh, Ribblehead: at the heart of the S&C's survival and its revival (2020)
- The family endured great hardship during the war.
- Losing his job caused serious financial hardship.
- Many families faced hardship when the factory closed and work became scarce.
