hair shirts

noun

plural of hair shirt
as in headaches
something that is a source of irritation the constant need to cut costs was a hair shirt, but one that the theater company had to live with

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for hair shirts
  1. headaches
  2. thorns
  3. frustrations
  4. nuisances
Noun
  • Those with the condition, which was eventually named Minamata disease, had symptoms including tremors, headaches, seizures, vision and hearing problems, ataxia, dysarthria, memory loss, and cognitive decline.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Patients may experience a very high fever, headaches, neck pain, stupor, disorientation, muscle weakness and other serious symptoms.
    — Irene Wright, USA Today, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of headaches
Noun
  • Keep in mind that rose stems are often armed with sharp prickles, not thorns.
    — Michele Laufik, Martha Stewart, 25 Aug. 2026
  • Their kickers’ health and performance for years have been one of the thorns in the team’s side.
    — Pat Leonard, New York Daily News, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of thorns
Noun
  • But our frustrations and inconvenience pale in comparison to the sadness of those who knew the deceased or to the trauma the drivers involved experienced.
    — Doug Turnbull, AJC.com, 30 Aug. 2026
  • One year before his triumph in the 2026 US Open, Clark missed the cut at the same tournament and took his frustrations out on the Oakmont Country Club locker room, causing enough damage that the famous club outside Pittsburgh banned him for life.
    — Kyle Feldscher, CNN Money, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of frustrations
Noun
  • In March, a Jackson County judge ordered Millennia to board up the property and fix those nuisances.
    — Kendrick Calfee, Kansas City Star, 2 Sep. 2026
  • The number of bears killed by motor vehicle strikes, euthanized as nuisances because of conflicts with humans or poached in the Central Florida region over the past decade total about 1,900.
    — Stephen Hudak, The Orlando Sentinel, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of nuisances
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

hair shirt
hair shirts
hairsplitter
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Cite this Entry

“Hair shirts.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hair%20shirts. Accessed 6 Sep. 2026.

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