uphill battle

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Noun

uphill battle (plural uphill battles)

1. (idiomatic) A challenge with the odds of success stacked strongly against.
   • 2021 October 11, Jan Hoffman, quoting Uzma Syed, “Boosters Are Complicating Efforts to Persuade the Unvaccinated to Get Shots”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     “It is an uphill battle,” said Dr. Uzma Syed, an infectious disease specialist in Jericho, N.Y., on Long Island, who for months has been giving vaccine education talks to national and international groups.

Usage notes

• Collocations include fight an uphill battle and be an uphill battle.

See also

• Sisyphean labour