struggle
Effortful uphill battle
Struggle is effort against resistance.
You struggle to lift something heavy, struggle to understand difficult material, struggle against an opponent.
The word implies difficulty and exertion: She struggled with depression for years.
A struggle is any hard-fought effort: the struggle for civil rights, a power struggle.
To struggle is also to move with difficulty: He struggled to his feet.
Physical or verbal conflict
- battleArmed military engagement
- clashViolent disagreement or collision
- combatArmed hostile engagement
- confrontationDirect hostile encounter
contest · war · dispute · contention · friction · opposition · rivalry · feud
Vigorous physical effort
- toilStrenuous, prolonged effort
- laborStrenuous effort; also childbirth
- strivingEarnest sustained endeavor
- grindCrush into particles
work · endeavor · push · sweat · grit · perseverance · determination · tenacity
State of being hard
- adversitySevere difficulty or suffering
- trialJudicial examination of claims
- obstacleSomething blocking the way
- hardshipSuffering from difficult circumstances
challenge · setback · hurdle · barrier · ordeal · tribulation · uphill · burden
Intense mental suffering
- tormentSevere prolonged suffering
- sufferingSustained experience of distress
- distressSevere anxiety or suffering
- turmoilViolent disturbance or confusion
inner conflict · wrestling · grappling · demons · anxiety · despair · grief · heartache
Desire for achievement
- dreamsInvoluntary sleep visions
- goalsIntended end results
- climbAscend using effort
- reachExtend to touch
strive · quest · pursuit · overcome · rise · upward · breakthrough · against the odds
Maintain minimal existence
- surviveContinue to exist
- endureSuffer through without yielding
- scrape bySurvive with minimal resources
- eke outObtain with difficulty
get by · make ends meet · fend · scrounge · hand to mouth · paycheck to paycheck · barely · hardscrabble
Open resistance to authority
- protestPublic expression of disapproval
- rebellionDefiance of established power
- insurgencyArmed uprising against authority
- dissentDisagreement with authority
opposition · boycott · uprising · liberation · civil disobedience · freedom fighter · movement · revolution
fight
Physical or verbal conflict
confrontation · contest · war · dispute · contention · friction · opposition · rivalry · feud · hostilities
exertion
Vigorous physical effort
- toilStrenuous, prolonged effort
- laborStrenuous effort; also childbirth
- strivingEarnest sustained endeavor
grind · work · endeavor · push · sweat · grit · perseverance · determination · tenacity · persistence
difficulty
State of being hard
- adversitySevere difficulty or suffering
- trialJudicial examination of claims
- obstacleSomething blocking the way
hardship · challenge · setback · hurdle · barrier · ordeal · tribulation · uphill · burden · plight
anguish
Intense mental suffering
- tormentSevere prolonged suffering
- sufferingSustained experience of distress
- distressSevere anxiety or suffering
turmoil · inner conflict · wrestling · grappling · demons · anxiety · despair · grief · heartache · coping
ambition
Desire for achievement
reach · strive · quest · pursuit · overcome · rise · upward · breakthrough · against the odds · underdog
subsist
Maintain minimal existence
- surviveContinue to exist
- endureSuffer through without yielding
- scrape bySurvive with minimal resources
eke out · get by · make ends meet · fend · scrounge · hand to mouth · paycheck to paycheck · barely · hardscrabble · poverty
defiance
Open resistance to authority
- protestPublic expression of disapproval
- rebellionDefiance of established power
- insurgencyArmed uprising against authority
dissent · opposition · boycott · uprising · liberation · civil disobedience · freedom fighter · movement · revolution · underground
- difficultyeasy, hard, medium, difficult, moderate
- experiencesadventure, journey, moment, event, feeling
- conflictclash, fight, war, battle, dispute
- adversityhardship, challenge, obstacle, difficulty, ordeal
- competition verbscompete, rival, contend, challenge, oppose
- conflictsargument, fight, war, battle, dispute
struggleease
Lack of strain
breeze · coast · glide · smooth sailing · effortlessness
strugglepeace
Freedom from disturbance
harmony · cooperation · co-operation · concord · accord
- power struggleContest for dominance
- eternal struggleCeaseless opposition between forces
- inner struggleMental or emotional turmoil
- personal strugglesIndividual challenges one faces
- moral struggleInternal debate over rightness
- internal struggle