hardship
hard·ship/ˈhɑɹdˌʃɪp/noun, verb
hardship is spelled H-A-R-D-S-H-I-P: 8 letters and 2 syllables (hard·ship). It appears 3.6 times per million words in written English, the 13,695th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, hardship means “Difficulty or trouble; hard times” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of hardship is hardships.
How many letters and syllables are in hardship?
| Letters | 8: H-A-R-D-S-H-I-P |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: hard·ship |
| In writing | 3.6 times per million words; the 13,695th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is hardship?
Hardship appears 3.6 times per million words in written English, the 13,695th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce hardship?
- US /ˈhɑɹdˌʃɪp/
- UK /ˈhɑːdˌʃɪp/
Hardship has 2 syllables, split hard·ship in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-hardship.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of hardship
- hardships plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- hardshipping participle, present
- hardshipped participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does hardship mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Difficulty or trouble; hard times.
He has survived periods of financial hardship before.
- 2
A burden, a source of difficulty that could impose a barrier.
When you visit the museum, we invite you to make a donation of $10 if this will not be a hardship.
verb
- 1
To treat (a person) badly; to subject to hardships.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Hardship in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense difficulty or trouble:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | difficultés, misère, épreuve |
| German | Härte, Not, Entbehrung, Mühsal, Elend, Beschwernis |
| Portuguese | dificuldade, apuro |
| Spanish | sufrimiento, apuro, penalidad, penuria, adversidad, tribulación |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does hardship come from?
From Middle English hardshipe, equivalent to hard + -ship.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).