hard-put

[hahrd-poot]

adjective

1. hard.

Word History and Origins

Origin of hard-put¹

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

If it’s possible to work around a no-beard policy when the stakes are life and death, I’m hard-put to imagine a job where accommodation isn’t possible.

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I’m hard-put to advise today’s graduates on how to succeed in the workplace.

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You will be hard-put to find the Mart mentioned in the literature about what Thomas Mann dubbed “German California.”

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Now the Russians will be hard-put to encircle the Ukrainian forces in the east, which have been fighting Russian-backed separatists since 2014.

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In media interviews, Israeli officials were quizzed over whether Trump had “betrayed” the Kurds - a term they seemed hard-put to deny.

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Related Words

• constrained 
• labored 
• stiff 
• tense 
• tight 
• uneasy