hard time

Difficult period endured

Hard time is a difficult or unpleasant experience.

To give someone a hard time is to criticize, tease, or make things difficult for them.

To have a hard time doing something is to struggle with it: I'm having a hard time concentrating.

In criminal contexts, hard time specifically means imprisonment, especially in a maximum-security facility: He did hard time for armed robbery.

difficulty

struggle

Labored effort against resistance

prison

Confinement in jail

Categories

sentencinglife sentence, life sentences, prison sentence, death row, consecutive sentences
prisoncell block, inmate, jail, prison, prisoner
hardshipsadversity, struggle, misfortune, difficulties, ordeal
Prison Memoirsprison memoirs, prison letters, behind bars, prison life, escape stories
prison sentenceslife sentence, prison term, sentence length, life without parole, mandatory minimum
prison slangshank, shiv, yard, cellie, commissary

Opposites

difficulty/ease

hard timebreeze

Light, gentle air movement

emotional/experiential quality

Enjoyable life periods

prison context

hard timefreedom

Absence of constraint

Family

Familiarity: Top 10,000
Profile: Known to kids · Used worldwide · Timeless · Negative · Everyday, not technical · Rated PG