Standard Lemma guide

hard-won

adj · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /hɑːd ˈwʌn/
  • General-American: /hɑɹd ˈwʌn/
  • General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ʌn

1

adj

Meaning 1

Having been obtained with effort, despite difficulty and hardship.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: hard-earned

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From hard (“with difficulty; with much effort”, adverb) + won (“obtained”, verb).

Across languages

Translations

11 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 來之不易的 /来之不易的 (láizhībùyì de) — having been obtained with effort
  • Dutch: zwaarbevochten — having been obtained with effort
  • Finnish: kovalla työllä ansaittu — having been obtained with effort
  • French: de haute lutte — having been obtained with effort
  • German: mühsam erworben — having been obtained with effort
  • Italian: stentato — having been obtained with effort
  • Italian: sudato — having been obtained with effort
  • Russian: завоёванный (zavojóvannyj) — having been obtained with effort
  • Spanish: ganado con dificultad — having been obtained with effort
  • Spanish: trabajado — having been obtained with effort
  • Swedish: dyrköpt — having been obtained with effort