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

Recent Examples on the Web

Infrastructure operators around the world are already learning this lesson the hard way. — Todd J. Stein, Fortune, 7 Oct. 2026

The ones who skip it typically find out the hard way how much invisible work the parent company’s infrastructure was doing for them. — Miki Kapoor, Forbes.com, 5 Oct. 2026

My generation learned the hard way what happens when government waits too long to establish reasonable rules on new, transformative technology. — Matt Post, Baltimore Sun, 1 Oct. 2026

That’s a lesson that a pair of teens who hired a Waymo, spent their ride getting drunk, and shot gel beads out the windows learned the hard way this summer. — Jonathan M. Gitlin, ArsTechnica, 1 Oct. 2026

Rhymes for the hard way

• aaa
• alleyway
• alumnae
• anime
• anyway
• arete
• attache
• axillae
• baa
• beaujolais
• bouvier
• breakaway