hardscrabble

adjective hard·scrab·ble \ˈhärd-ˌskra-bəl\

: having poor soil

: having harsh and difficult conditions because of poverty

Full Definition of HARDSCRABBLE

a : being or relating to a place of barren or barely arable soil <a hardscrabble farm> <hardscrabble prairies>

b : getting a meager living from poor soil <a hardscrabble farmer>

: marked by poverty <a hardscrabble cotton town> <a hardscrabble childhood>

See hardscrabble defined for English-language learners

1804

Synonyms: bony (also boney), dead, desolate, barren, impoverished, infertile, poor, stark, unfertile, unproductive, waste

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