(n.) That which is hard to hear, as toil, privation, injury, injustice, etc.

adverse circumstances adversity affliction aggravation annoyance asperity austerity bad luck blight broken fortune bummer care cross curse danger deprivation difficulties difficulty discomfort distress downer drudgery embarrassment genteel poverty hard knocks hard life hard lot hard pinch hardcase hardness hazard ill fortune impecuniosity impecuniousness insolvency irritation light purse mischance misery misfortune narrow means peril plight poorness poverty predicament pressure privation rigor sea of troubles slender means straitened circumstances straits stress stress of life suffering tight squeeze toil travail trial tribulation trouble troubles unhappiness unprosperousness vale of tears vicissitude voluntary poverty vows of poverty want