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View synonyms for

hard-pressed

or 󲹰·

[ hahrd-prest ]

adjective

  1. heavily burdened or oppressed, as by overwork or financial difficulties; harried; put-upon.

    Synonyms:



hard-pressed

adjective

  1. in difficulties

    the swimmer was hard-pressed

  2. subject to severe competition
  3. subject to severe attack
  4. closely pursued
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word History and Origins

Origin of hard-pressed1

First recorded in 1815–25
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Idioms and Phrases

Overburdened, put upon, as in With all these bills to pay we find ourselves hard pressed . [c. 1800]
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

As a physician, I would be hard-pressed to argue for rolling back anything that saves lives.

From

You’d be hard-pressed to find another show as concise in its education concerning the subtler signifiers of having “made it.”

From

And Luxford told me she was "hard-pressed" to imagine the film's core audience, children under 10, being swayed by her politics.

From

"This will make a difference to hard-pressed Canadians," he said.

From

But a team of all or even mostly Dodgers would be hard-pressed to win a fantasy league, which usually consists of 10 to 12 teams.

From

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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