hard knocks

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.

"Everyone loved her. I grew up with Tina Turner and she was a great woman to me, with a lot of sorrow too due to life's hard knocks but absolutely someone we could admire."

From Reuters • May 25, 2023

Australian rugby league in the early 1990s was an unforgiving school of hard knocks, tough men and scant sympathy.

From BBC • Feb. 2, 2023

Sam is a straightforward girl who suffers hard knocks and learns to climb rocks as she undergoes the traumas and revelations of growing up from age 7 to 19.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 16, 2023

Brown agreed, saying, “Through the school of hard knocks, we’re better at managing through it.”

From New York Times • Dec. 21, 2022

Shasta cried only a very little; he was used to hard knocks.

From "The Horse and His Boy" by C.S. Lewis