great hardship

Meanings

1. 1noununcountable

   A situation of severe suffering and difficulty, especially when caused by poverty, war, or loss.

   Grammar: Uncountable: talk about great hardship in general, without 'a' or a plural.

   Patterns

   • cause great hardship
   • suffer great hardship
   • great hardship for someone

   The war caused great hardship for families across the region.

   Many people suffered great hardship during the long drought.

   Losing his job brought great hardship to his whole family.

2. 2nouncountable or uncountable

   A very difficult experience or period that tests someone's strength.

   Grammar: Can be countable when referring to one particular difficult period: 'a great hardship'.

   Patterns

   • a great hardship
   • endure a great hardship
   • face great hardship

   Living without heating for a month was a great hardship for the elderly couple.

   The students endured great hardship to finish their studies.

Common combinations

cause great hardship

The new tax caused great hardship for small businesses.

suffer great hardship

Refugees often suffer great hardship before they find safety.

financial hardship

The family faced financial hardship after the factory closed.

great hardship for someone

The flooding was a great hardship for the farmers.

Synonyms and how they differ

suffering

Suffering is a more general word for pain and unhappiness; great hardship specifically suggests difficult conditions like poverty or war.

privation

Privation is formal and means a lack of the basic things you need; great hardship is more common and can also mean emotional difficulty.

Opposites

Word family

hard adjective

Difficult to do or deal with.

hardship noun

A difficult condition or experience.

hardly adverb

Almost not; barely.

Commonly confused: great hardship or hard?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “great hardship”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Explore more words