noun

severe suffering or privation.

intolerable levels of hardship

privation,deprivation,destitution,poverty,austerity,penury,want,need,neediness,beggary,impecuniousness,impecuniosity,financial distress,misfortune,distress,suffering,affliction,trouble,pain,misery,wretchedness,tribulation,adversity,disaster,ruin,ruination,calamity,trials,trials and tribulations,dire straits,hassle,travails