"hard-won" meaning in English

See hard-won in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adjective

IPA: /hɑːd ˈwʌn/ [Received-Pronunciation], /hɑɹd ˈwʌn/ [General-American] Audio: En-us-hard-won.oga Forms: harder-won [comparative], more hard-won [comparative], hardest-won [superlative], most hard-won [superlative]
Rhymes: -ʌn Etymology: From hard (“with difficulty; with much effort”, adverb) + won (“obtained”, verb). Etymology templates: {{root|en|ine-pro|*kret-|*wenh₁-}} Head templates: {{en-adj|harder-won|more|sup=hardest-won}} hard-won (comparative harder-won or more hard-won, superlative hardest-won or most hard-won)
  1. Having been obtained with effort, despite difficulty and hardship. Synonyms: hard-earned, hardwon Translations (having been obtained with effort): 來之不易的 (Chinese Mandarin), 来之不易的 (láizhībùyì de) (Chinese Mandarin), kovalla työllä ansaittu (Finnish), de haute lutte (French), mühsam erworben (German), stentato (Italian), sudato (Italian), завоёванный (zavojóvannyj) (Russian), ganado con dificultad (Spanish), trabajado (Spanish), dyrköpt (Swedish)

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*kret-",
        "4": "*wenh₁-"
      },
      "expansion": "",
      "name": "root"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From hard (“with difficulty; with much effort”, adverb) + won (“obtained”, verb).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "harder-won",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "more hard-won",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hardest-won",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most hard-won",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "harder-won",
        "2": "more",
        "sup": "hardest-won"
      },
      "expansion": "hard-won (comparative harder-won or more hard-won, superlative hardest-won or most hard-won)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with French translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Italian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Mandarin translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Russian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Swedish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1586, William Warner, “The Third Booke. Chapter XVII.”, in Albions England. Or Historicall Map of the Same Island: […], London: […] George Robinson [and R. Ward] for Thomas Cadman, […], →OCLC, page 71:",
          "text": "The Earle of London yéeldes his Charge and Cittie to the Foe, / Through which diſloyall preſedent did other Citties ſoe: / And then with hard-won Tribute hence the Conquerour did goe.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1861, Christopher Eades, “Section V. Warnings and Persuasives.”, in England and France. […] Prize Essay, 2nd edition, Dublin: McGlashan & Gill, […]; London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co., […], →OCLC, page 70:",
          "text": "[S]hould any hostile force approach our shores, or land upon them, they will find a people—not secure, and quiet, and at ease—but resolved and ready to defend our Queen and our country, our hard-won wealth, and our harder-won freedom, our wives and our daughters, our old men and our little children, our hearths and o[u]r altars—to our last ship, our last town, and our last man.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1954, Norman Thomas, “The Jeffersonian Ideal in Practice”, in The Test of Freedom, New York, N.Y.: W[illiam] W[arder] Norton & Company, →OCLC, page 24:",
          "text": "Eulogists of the Bill of Rights often overlook the fact that some of the hardest-won rights of the individual against the state were inserted in the Constitution itself.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2020 November 9, Gwen Ihnat, “With McCartney III, Paul McCartney Offers Lessons from a Legendary Life”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2022-11-07:",
          "text": "Of course, with those decades of life come many hard-won lessons, and at this stage of the game, [Paul] McCartney's not above preaching a bit.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2021 September 22, Stephen Roberts, “The Writings on the Wall …”, in Rail, number 940, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 72:",
          "text": "The League of Nations, meanwhile, suffered a credibility gap as the United States never joined the organisation that its President argued was essential for preserving the hard-won peace.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Having been obtained with effort, despite difficulty and hardship."
      ],
      "id": "en-hard-won-en-adj-LeYIScVA",
      "links": [
        [
          "obtain",
          "obtain"
        ],
        [
          "effort",
          "effort#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "difficulty",
          "difficulty"
        ],
        [
          "hardship",
          "hardship#Noun"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "hard-earned"
        },
        {
          "word": "hardwon"
        }
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "having been obtained with effort",
          "word": "來之不易的"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "láizhībùyì de",
          "sense": "having been obtained with effort",
          "word": "来之不易的"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "having been obtained with effort",
          "word": "kovalla työllä ansaittu"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "having been obtained with effort",
          "word": "de haute lutte"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "having been obtained with effort",
          "word": "mühsam erworben"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "having been obtained with effort",
          "word": "stentato"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "having been obtained with effort",
          "word": "sudato"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "zavojóvannyj",
          "sense": "having been obtained with effort",
          "word": "завоёванный"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "having been obtained with effort",
          "word": "ganado con dificultad"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "having been obtained with effort",
          "word": "trabajado"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "having been obtained with effort",
          "word": "dyrköpt"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/hɑːd ˈwʌn/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/hɑɹd ˈwʌn/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-us-hard-won.oga",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/89/En-us-hard-won.oga/En-us-hard-won.oga.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/En-us-hard-won.oga"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ʌn"
    }
  ],
  "word": "hard-won"
}
{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*kret-",
        "4": "*wenh₁-"
      },
      "expansion": "",
      "name": "root"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From hard (“with difficulty; with much effort”, adverb) + won (“obtained”, verb).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "harder-won",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "more hard-won",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hardest-won",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most hard-won",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "harder-won",
        "2": "more",
        "sup": "hardest-won"
      },
      "expansion": "hard-won (comparative harder-won or more hard-won, superlative hardest-won or most hard-won)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English adjectives",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European",
        "English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *kret-",
        "English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *wenh₁-",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Entries with translation boxes",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Rhymes:English/ʌn",
        "Rhymes:English/ʌn/2 syllables",
        "Terms with Finnish translations",
        "Terms with French translations",
        "Terms with German translations",
        "Terms with Italian translations",
        "Terms with Mandarin translations",
        "Terms with Russian translations",
        "Terms with Spanish translations",
        "Terms with Swedish translations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1586, William Warner, “The Third Booke. Chapter XVII.”, in Albions England. Or Historicall Map of the Same Island: […], London: […] George Robinson [and R. Ward] for Thomas Cadman, […], →OCLC, page 71:",
          "text": "The Earle of London yéeldes his Charge and Cittie to the Foe, / Through which diſloyall preſedent did other Citties ſoe: / And then with hard-won Tribute hence the Conquerour did goe.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1861, Christopher Eades, “Section V. Warnings and Persuasives.”, in England and France. […] Prize Essay, 2nd edition, Dublin: McGlashan & Gill, […]; London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co., […], →OCLC, page 70:",
          "text": "[S]hould any hostile force approach our shores, or land upon them, they will find a people—not secure, and quiet, and at ease—but resolved and ready to defend our Queen and our country, our hard-won wealth, and our harder-won freedom, our wives and our daughters, our old men and our little children, our hearths and o[u]r altars—to our last ship, our last town, and our last man.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1954, Norman Thomas, “The Jeffersonian Ideal in Practice”, in The Test of Freedom, New York, N.Y.: W[illiam] W[arder] Norton & Company, →OCLC, page 24:",
          "text": "Eulogists of the Bill of Rights often overlook the fact that some of the hardest-won rights of the individual against the state were inserted in the Constitution itself.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2020 November 9, Gwen Ihnat, “With McCartney III, Paul McCartney Offers Lessons from a Legendary Life”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2022-11-07:",
          "text": "Of course, with those decades of life come many hard-won lessons, and at this stage of the game, [Paul] McCartney's not above preaching a bit.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2021 September 22, Stephen Roberts, “The Writings on the Wall …”, in Rail, number 940, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 72:",
          "text": "The League of Nations, meanwhile, suffered a credibility gap as the United States never joined the organisation that its President argued was essential for preserving the hard-won peace.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Having been obtained with effort, despite difficulty and hardship."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "obtain",
          "obtain"
        ],
        [
          "effort",
          "effort#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "difficulty",
          "difficulty"
        ],
        [
          "hardship",
          "hardship#Noun"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "hard-earned"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/hɑːd ˈwʌn/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/hɑɹd ˈwʌn/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-us-hard-won.oga",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/89/En-us-hard-won.oga/En-us-hard-won.oga.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/En-us-hard-won.oga"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ʌn"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "hardwon"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "having been obtained with effort",
      "word": "來之不易的"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "láizhībùyì de",
      "sense": "having been obtained with effort",
      "word": "来之不易的"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "having been obtained with effort",
      "word": "kovalla työllä ansaittu"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "having been obtained with effort",
      "word": "de haute lutte"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "having been obtained with effort",
      "word": "mühsam erworben"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "having been obtained with effort",
      "word": "stentato"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "having been obtained with effort",
      "word": "sudato"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "zavojóvannyj",
      "sense": "having been obtained with effort",
      "word": "завоёванный"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "having been obtained with effort",
      "word": "ganado con dificultad"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "having been obtained with effort",
      "word": "trabajado"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "having been obtained with effort",
      "word": "dyrköpt"
    }
  ],
  "word": "hard-won"
}

Download raw JSONL data for hard-won meaning in English (5.5kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-11-21 using wiktextract (94ba7e1 and 5dea2a6). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.