ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Hard-pressed

Definition, Meaning & Examples

Part of speech adjective

Quick meaning: Hard-pressed is an adjective meaning (idiomatic, usually with to-infinitive) Barely able. Having difficulty doing something.

Meaning

(idiomatic, usually with to-infinitive) Barely able. Having difficulty doing something.

More Meanings

  1. (idiomatic) Experiencing financial difficulty or difficulty in surviving.

Example Sentences

The earthquake left the residents hard-pressed.
Although they are still available, I think we would be hard-pressed to find one on short notice.
From the 'fifties onwards the development of the South Wales & Monmouthshire coalfield went on at terrific speed, and railway construction was hard pressed to keep pace with it.
Speaking to Parliament on March 23, Sunak announced a temporary cut in fuel duty of 5p per litre to hard-pressed motorists who have faced spiralling prices for diesel and petrol in recent weeks.

Word Forms

Synonyms for hard-pressed

Depending on context, synonyms include distressed, troubled.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include troubled, distressed, difficult, evil, struggling, poorly.

Related Dictionary Tools

Sources & Attribution

FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0

Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.