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

The company will be hard-pressed to meet the March 2027 schedule.

From The Wall Street Journal

But more significant for hard-pressed Iranians struggling to feed their families has been the impact of sanctions.

From BBC

I’m happy to give the Australians their due, but I’m hard-pressed to see how their design offers any guidance to improving the U.S. system.

From MarketWatch

When people around the world began generating millions, and then billions, of images, Google was hard-pressed to find enough computing power to meet the demand.

From The Wall Street Journal

Few expect the good times to keep rolling indefinitely, but you would be hard-pressed to find a major bank predicting anything except more gains in 2026.

From The Wall Street Journal