the hard way

noun

: in a way that involves difficult or painful experiences
He found out the hard way that crime doesn't pay.
She insisted on doing things the hard way.

Examples of the hard way in a Sentence

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One flat tire after another, an Atlanta man kept finding nails and screws the hard way. — Emily McLeod, CBS News, 16 Oct. 2026 Some people are already learning about the unpredictability of AI agents the hard way. — Adam Clark Estes, Vox, 16 Oct. 2026 For decades, teams reconciled that volume the hard way, syncing office visibility and field reality in batches weeks or months apart. — Ronald Bisio, Forbes.com, 13 Oct. 2026 Infrastructure operators around the world are already learning this lesson the hard way. — Todd J. Stein, Fortune, 7 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for the hard way

Rhymes for the hard way

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Browse Nearby Words

the hard stuff
the hard way
the have-nots
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Cite this Entry

“The hard way.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/the%20hard%20way. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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