tryhard

UK/ˈtɹaɪˌhɑːd//ˈtɹaɪˌhɑɹd/

tryhard noun: a person usually of little talent who tries hard to succeed, especially through imitation, usually to gain fame or popularity.

Noun

tryhard (plural tryhards)

(derogatory, informal) A person usually of little talent who tries hard to succeed, especially through imitation, usually to gain fame or popularity.
A person who is perceived as putting too much effort into something recreational, such as a game.
- I'm going to try as hard as I—I'm going to be the sweatiest fucking tryhard in this server. I'm going to kill you.2013 July 20, STAR_, 3:43 from the start, in TF2: Jerma is Mad pt.2, spoken by Jerma985, via YouTube, archived from the original on 02 Aug 2020

tryhard (comparative more tryhard, superlative most tryhard)

(derogatory) Done to excess, to an embarrassing degree.

Synonyms:

overcooked
(derogatory) Perceived as putting too much effort into something recreational, such as a game.
- They are being so tryhard right now.

tryhard (third-person singular simple present tryhards, present participle tryharding, simple past and past participle tryharded)

(intransitive) To put perhaps too much effort into a recreational activity, typically a game.
- Tryhard like you’ve never tryharded before. If you don’t get called a tryhard in game, you’re not tryharding enough. OK, so maybe don’t go overboard but, if you want to take ranked seriously this season, be sure to start off on the right foot.2018 January 16, Ryan Gilliam, “What should you expect your new rank to be?”, in The Rift Herald, archived from the original on 29 Aug 2022
- Some people view tryhards negatively since more casual players can get instantly overwhelmed by people in matchmaking that are hard-pressed to win rather than to just have fun. But that’s where an important distinction is being asked: is tryharding the same as simply trying to win.2020 August 17, Alan Bernal, “Have tryhards ruined gaming? Viral video divides opinion”, in Dexerto

முயற்சி, தண்டி

Noun
plural	tryhards
alternative form	try-hard
Adjective
comparative	more tryhard
superlative	most tryhard
Verb
third-person singular present	tryhards
present participle	tryharding
past participle	tryharded
past	tryharded

From try + hard.

What does tryhard mean?: Tryhard means a person usually of little talent who tries hard to succeed, especially through imitation, usually to gain fame or popularity.
What is tryhard in Tamil?: Tryhard in Tamil is முயற்சி, தண்டி. See Tryhard meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is tryhard?: Tryhard can be a noun, an adjective or a verb.
How do you pronounce tryhard?: Tryhard is pronounced /ˈtɹaɪˌhɑɹd/ (US).
What is the plural of tryhard?: The plural of tryhard is tryhards.

Adapted from Wiktionary: tryhard (page history and authors); tryhard (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-tryhard.wav.

Cite this entry: “tryhard.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/tryhard. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.