hardscrabble[adjective]Synonyms: barren, infertile, unbearing, unfertile, unproductive
[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲
hard‧scrab‧ble /ˈhɑːdskræb
əl $ ˈhɑːrd-/
adjective [only before noun]1. hardscrabble land has poor soil and will not produce good crops of food, and sometimes not any food at all:
I remembered it being green and humid, nothing like this hardscrabble land.2. poor, and working on land that does not produce enough food to eat or crops to sell:
The town is also home to hardscrabble residents who have to eat at the soup kitchen. [TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲