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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

An astonishing number of them opened here, in Southern California, although you would be hard pressed to find many nowadays.

From Los Angeles Times • May 22, 2026

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

She may be hard pressed to avoid one.

From Barron's • Mar. 18, 2026

Ten years on, you would be hard pressed to find a football fan who does not recognise him.

From BBC • Feb. 25, 2026

I felt kind of suffocated by his T-shirt, but it felt good to be held so hard, pressed into the comfortable smell of my dad.

From "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green