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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

Japanese authorities are, for example, hard-pressed to conduct an on-site probe into alleged environmental pollution inside the bases and regulate low-altitude flights of their aircraft.

From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026

And of course in many areas of the U.S., you would be hard-pressed to find a home at the national median price.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 25, 2026

He has offered to give the hard-pressed public "breathing space" amid a cost of living crisis.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026

And we’re hard-pressed to think of anyone who’s won a governor’s race after struggling to answer a question about whether Thanksgiving should be canceled.

From Slate ● Aug. 8, 2026

"Esgred was the first ship he built. He named her after his mother. I would be hard-pressed to say which he loves best."

From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin

The proliferation of scientific journals has created an almost insatiable need, and professors on the treadmill of grants, research and publishing are hard pressed to fit in such volunteering.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 29, 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

Experts in international law are hard pressed to find any legal justification for the administration’s action.

From Salon ● Sep. 7, 2025

When Ronan Keating answered a newspaper advert to audition for Boyzone in 1993, he would have been hard pressed to believe more than 30 years later he would still be hitting the stage.

From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2025

I had been hard pressed to find new country to run in to keep the young dogs from becoming bored and this logging trail was one we hadn’t run.

From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen