hard-won

From hard (“with difficulty; with much effort”, adverb) + won (“obtained”, verb).^[1][2]

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /hɑːd ˈwʌn/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /hɑɹd ˈwʌn/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌn

hard-won (comparative harder-won or more hard-won, superlative hardest-won or most hard-won)

1. Having been obtained with effort, despite difficulty and hardship.

   Synonym: hard-earned

   • 1586, William Warner, “The Third Booke. Chapter XVII.”, in Albions England. Or Historicall Map of the Same Island: , London: George Robinson for Thomas Cadman, , →OCLC, page 71:

     The Earle of London yéeldes his Charge and Cittie to the Foe, / Through which diſloyall preſedent did other Citties ſoe: / And then with hard-won Tribute hence the Conquerour did goe.

   • 1861, Christopher Eades, “Section V. Warnings and Persuasives.”, in England and France. Prize Essay, 2nd edition, Dublin: McGlashan & Gill, ; London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co., , →OCLC, page 70:

     [S]hould any hostile force approach our shores, or land upon them, they will find a people—not secure, and quiet, and at ease—but resolved and ready to defend our Queen and our country, our hard-won wealth, and our harder-won freedom, our wives and our daughters, our old men and our little children, our hearths and o[u]r altars—to our last ship, our last town, and our last man.

   • 1954, Norman Thomas, “The Jeffersonian Ideal in Practice”, in The Test of Freedom, New York, N.Y.: W[illiam] W[arder] Norton & Company, →OCLC, page 24:

     Eulogists of the Bill of Rights often overlook the fact that some of the hardest-won rights of the individual against the state were inserted in the Constitution itself.

   • 2020 November 9, Gwen Ihnat, “With McCartney III, Paul McCartney Offers Lessons from a Legendary Life”, in The A.V. Club‎, archived from the original on 2022-11-07:

     Of course, with those decades of life come many hard-won lessons, and at this stage of the game, [Paul] McCartney's not above preaching a bit.

   • 2021 September 22, Stephen Roberts, “The Writings on the Wall …”, in Rail, number 940, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 72:

     The League of Nations, meanwhile, suffered a credibility gap as the United States never joined the organisation that its President argued was essential for preserving the hard-won peace.

• hardwon