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• hard-pressed
  hard-pressed

  adjective

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

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

hard-pressed

American  

[hahrd-prest] / ˈhɑrdˈprɛst /

Or hardpressed

adjective

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

   Synonyms:

   beleaguered

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hard-pressed British  

adjective

1. in difficulties

   the swimmer was hard-pressed

2. subject to severe competition

3. subject to severe attack

4. closely pursued

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hard pressed Idioms  

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

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Etymology

Origin of hard-pressed

First recorded in 1815–25

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hard-pressed hard pressed

“In a blind tasting, unless they’re an expert, people would be hard-pressed to know that it is not a Scotch.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026

That’s especially useful during a global event like the World Cup—when even the most devoted soccer fan is hard-pressed to keep track of every group-stage result, knockout permutation, and concurring match windows.

From Slate ● Jun. 10, 2026

It’s an incredible level of control that investors would be hard-pressed to find in publicly traded companies.

From Barron's ● May 20, 2026

In many stretches, you’d be hard-pressed to stroll along the banks of the San Gabriel or Los Angeles rivers without meeting abandoned water bottles, candy wrappers, golf balls, sad-looking teddy bears, even shopping carts.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2026

Meantime the Trojan camp, fortified only by earthworks and deprived of its leader and its best warriors, was hard-pressed.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton

But one would be hard pressed to argue that any comedy ever surpassed “Trouble in Paradise” for invention and refinement.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 2026

Goals, assists and consistent performances throughout the season, I think you would been hard pressed to find somebody who has delivered as much as Harry, I really do.

From BBC ● Mar. 1, 2026

Throw in the affordability crisis — from food to energy bills — and you have an economic outlook that Nostradamus would be hard pressed to predict.

From MarketWatch ● Dec. 15, 2025

He’d be hard pressed to find anyone capable of cogent thought who agrees with him.

From Salon ● Oct. 17, 2025

As I shook it, something hard pressed into my palm.

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss