hair shirt

noun

Definition of hair shirtnext
as in headache
something that is a source of irritation the constant need to cut costs was a hair shirt, but one that the theater company had to live with

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of hair shirt Four years later, an America-first cultural crackdown has freed the Met to cast off the hair shirt of reckoning and celebrate its diverse holdings in a spirit of defiance. — Julian Lucas, New Yorker, 30 June 2025 And that gave birth to the worst Wolverine, which also gave birth to the idea that the suit is a hair shirt. — Michael Ordoña, Los Angeles Times, 25 Nov. 2024 Erin Maglaque’s review of a new book on women and sound in Renaissance Italy peels back the layers of a less-talked about form of religious asceticism and control, one where there are no hair shirts or decade-long fasts, just… silence. — Michelle Weber, Longreads, 15 Nov. 2024 The novel aesthetic of Art Nouveau wrapped modernism in the garb of pleasure, instead of in the hair shirt of social obligation and moral uplift. — Regina Cole, Forbes, 1 Jan. 2023 Few people’s utopia involves wearing a hair shirt and giving up culinary pleasures; utopia and sacrifice are, for many, antonyms. — Jan Dutkiewicz, The New Republic, 20 Oct. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hair shirt
  1. headache
  2. thorn
  3. nuisance
  4. frustration
  5. worry
Noun
  • Tibbetts says the fires have already created plenty of logistics headaches.
    — Anya Kamenetz, Curbed, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Caused by parasites spread via Anopheles mosquitoes, malaria can cause symptoms including nausea, headache and intense waves of fever and chills.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of headache
Noun
  • Agoura’s versatile George Hastings will try to be a thorn for Westlake on offense and defense.
    — Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 26 Aug. 2026
  • The Lynx played without star Courtney Williams, a thorn in the side of the Valkyries the past two years.
    — Christian Babcock, Mercury News, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of thorn
Noun
  • In March, a Jackson County judge ordered Millennia to board up the property and fix those nuisances.
    — Kendrick Calfee, Kansas City Star, 2 Sep. 2026
  • The number of bears killed by motor vehicle strikes, euthanized as nuisances because of conflicts with humans or poached in the Central Florida region over the past decade total about 1,900.
    — Stephen Hudak, The Orlando Sentinel, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of nuisance
Noun
  • Acceptance moves you out of frustration and into a place of proactivity.
    — R. Eric Thomas, Chicago Tribune, 29 Aug. 2026
  • Troops in this area have sustained heavy casualties in battles with the regional Islamic State affiliate, and analysts and security sources say frustration with the government is mounting within frontline units.
    — Reuters, NBC news, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of frustration
Noun
  • Solar attracted the most investment among renewable energy subsectors during the first six months of the year as countries rush to build capacity as worries grow that global wars will continue squeezing energy supplies.
    — Eugenia Perozo, semafor.com, 27 Aug. 2026
  • Research shows, however, that the public is always a little bit concerned about corruption, and that these worries often do not correspond with particular actions by politicians.
    — Robert Boatright, The Conversation, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of worry

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hair shirt
hair shirts
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Cite this Entry

“Hair shirt.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hair%20shirt. Accessed 4 Sep. 2026.

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