cash-strapped

British

adjective

short of money; impoverished

cash-strapped local authorities

"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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Now he is suddenly cash-strapped and coming to me for financial help.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 21, 2026

Unstated was how, precisely, the cash-strapped state would pay for such a bounty.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 22, 2026

Six- and eight-seater e-trikes, which cost around one third of a taxi fare, have become a lifeline for cash-strapped Cubans.

From Barron's • Feb. 15, 2026

In the months before his death, Van Der Beek had shared how cash-strapped the cancer treatments had left him and his family.

From BBC • Feb. 13, 2026

With stagnant wages and booming consumption, the cash-strapped American masses had a virtually unlimited demand for loans but an uncertain ability to repay them.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

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