B2idiomsuccessIELTS-friendly
learn the hard way
USUK
to learn something from an unpleasant experience or your own mistakes
Often 'learn something the hard way' or 'learn that the hard way'. Good for stories about mistakes.
In context
I learned the hard way that you should always back up your files.
Some people only learn the hard way, so let them make their own mistakes.
More idioms about success
- a blessing in disguisesomething that seems bad at first but later brings a good result
- a long shotan attempt or guess that has very little chance of success
- a Pyrrhic victorya win that costs so much that it is hardly worth winning
- against all oddsalthough success seemed very unlikely
- back to square oneback at the start, because an earlier attempt has failed