hard knock
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It’s a morality tale about the hard-knock life of a performer that recalls the warm character studies of Ms. Swift’s earlier work.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 6, 2025
But when I really close-read Annie’s hard-knock life, I couldn’t help but zero in on how bizarre it is—and how bizarre it is that we still love her so much.
From Slate • Aug. 17, 2024
The singer stood in a rubble-strewn courtyard in one of the hard-knock neighborhoods of Luanda, Angola’s capital, antsy as he got the performers in line for their final rehearsal before the big competition.
From New York Times • Mar. 12, 2023
But what became increasingly obvious with each crunchy step of survey work, is that a live tortoise lingering in this landscape is in for a hard-knock life.
From Washington Times • Sep. 6, 2020
The rehearsal is what I expect—a bunch of kids singing, “It’s a hard-knock life.”
From "Shouting at the Rain" by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
