Hard-won
What it means
Secured only after serious difficulty, resistance, or repeated setbacks.
Reach for it when honoring a gain whose value is sharpened by the struggle required
The neighbors protected their hard-won access to the river path.
Words to choose between 6
| everyday | |
|---|---|
| warm | |
| professional | |
| formal | |
| literary |
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everyday
Fits when sustained work deserves more emphasis than conflict
Careful Hard-earned may be too mild when the gain survived opposition or loss.
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everyday
won through
Fits when persistence across obstacles should sound direct
Careful The phrase needs an object explaining what was endured and cannot stand alone.
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warm
fought-for
Fits when people actively defended or pursued the result
Careful It implies an adversary even when the difficulty came from nature or complexity.
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professional
secured
Fits when the priority is that the gain is now protected
Careful Secured omits the demanding route that makes hard-won meaningful.
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formal
Fits when victory and public celebration dominate the scene
Careful Triumphant describes the result's mood, not necessarily how difficult it was to obtain.
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literary
painfully achieved
Fits when cost and hardship are inseparable from the outcome
Careful This wording foregrounds suffering and can overwhelm a celebratory sentence.
Opposites 3
- easily gained
- surrendered
- inherited
Common phrases 3
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hard-won freedom
The archive preserves letters celebrating the town's hard-won freedom.
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hard-won agreement
A hard-won agreement finally reopened the shared crossing.
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hard-won progress
The new setback did not erase years of hard-won progress.
Definitions and examples are written for this site. How words are chosen Recording: Paul2520, American accent, from Wikimedia Commons, CC0 Updated