Word of the Day!

hardscrabble [härdskrab(ə)l]

adjective (North American)
1. a. being or relating to a place of barren or barely arable soil
1. b. getting a meager living from poor soil
2. marked by poverty

Examples:
Milo is a savvy, hardscrabble Ethiopian Irish computer-science grad student loyal to a crew of rough friends.
—Randy Boyagoda, The Atlantic, 16 Aug. 2024

The race covers the 58th district, which is historically Democratic and includes the hardscrabble Thompsonville section of working-class citizens east of the Connecticut River and west of Interstate 91.
—Christopher Keating, Hartford Courant, 12 Aug. 2024

Rose, a product of the city’s hardscrabble west side, was a man of average physical gifts who propelled himself to unparalleled athletic heights and a mythic status hard to imagine for a baseball player today.
—Brandon Harris, The New Yorker, 7 Aug. 2024

What makes the claim believable is its specificity — page numbers and all — and the fact Vance’s memoir was lauded as a heartfelt, unvarnished coming-of-age tell-all about his hardscrabble Appalachian childhood.
—Allen Salkin, The Hollywood Reporter, 26 July 2024

Origins: An Americanism dating back to 1795–1805; hard + scrabble

Not to be confused with this: