hard time
Americannoun
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a period of difficulties or hardship.
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Slang. time actually served in a prison or other penal institution.
He had merely been fined before, but now was sentenced to 90 days' hard time in the county jail.
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Informal. give a hard time, to bother, annoy, or harass.
He gave me a hard time about the money I owe him.
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Also, hard times . A period of difficulty or hardship, especially financial hardship. For example, Since Mom died, Christmas has been a hard time for Dad , or It's been hard times for both of them since they split up . It is also put as have a hard time , as in I'm having a hard time finishing this book . Charles Dickens used Hard Times as the title of a novel about poverty (1854). A more recent version is have a time of it , which despite its ambiguity (not specifying either “good” or “bad”) nearly always means “experiencing difficulty”; for example, We had quite a time of it in that hurricane . [Late 1300s]
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give someone a hard time . Annoy or harass someone. For example, Don't let him give you a hard time; he's often late himself . [ Colloquial ; early 1900s]
Etymology
Origin of hard time
First recorded in 1905–10
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.
Sutton says that she’s heard through the gallery grapevine that “even galleries that haven’t closed are struggling,” adding that “it’s a hard time for everybody.”
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 7, 2026
Customers had a hard time getting to showrooms in January because of frozen conditions on the roads.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 1, 2026
“It’s been a hard time for me, and I was able to overcome it,” he said at the time.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 30, 2026
I know I had a hard time looking away from that Mets-Pirates game.
From Barron's • Mar. 26, 2026
Maybe it was the rattling of the railcar, but I was having a hard time sitting still for such a long journey.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
