HARD PUT Synonyms: 19 Similar and Opposite Words

hard put

adjective

Definition of hard put

as in put to it

faced with difficulty or uncertainty about what to say, think, or do she was hard put to explain her department's excessive expenditures

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Example Sentences

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Recent Examples of hard put Given their miserable track record, the Fed’s bureaucracy will be hard put to defend their models. — Steve Forbes, Forbes.com, 19 May 2026 But you’d be hard put to find two men the heavens are less likely to cow. — The Editors, Curbed, 15 Dec. 2025 Many Americans, while understanding that Washington was essential to the success of the revolution in his role as commanding general, would be hard put to explain why he is so highly ranked as president. — Sara Georgini, Smithsonian Magazine, 15 Aug. 2024 From Brazil to Germany, companies are hard put to crew up, such is the demand by series and movies. — John Hopewell, Variety, 10 May 2023 This item, which has more in common with a tabletop decoration than a functioning reticule, would be hard put to accommodate a hairbrush; a cellphone would dwarf it. — Lynn Yaeger, Town & Country, 22 Jan. 2023 Japan itself, with a stagnant economy and the highest debt-to-GDP ratio in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, will be hard put to sustain the necessary military buildup. — Walter Russell Mead, WSJ, 28 Nov. 2022

Recent Examples of Synonyms for hard put

Adjective

Millie Bobby Brown says her American Stranger Things costars were very perplexed by her British meals.

— Emlyn Travis, Entertainment Weekly, 9 July 2026
There were few international visitors, an absence that has perplexed business owners who banked on hundreds of thousands of new faces to patronize their establishments.

— Katelyn Umholtz, Kansas City Star, 1 July 2026

Definition of perplexed

Adjective

Brown said this is typical, particularly with prepubescent boys, who can be embarrassed.

— Laura Trujillo, USA Today, 15 July 2026
Illnesses from the parasite are assumed to be an undercount since many people who get cyclosporiasis, which causes unrelenting diarrhea, cramping and bloating, may be embarrassed to see a doctor or may try to wait out their symptoms at home.

— Brenda Goodman, CNN Money, 13 July 2026

Definition of embarrassed

Adjective

In a little corner of my mind, however, history will always mean the tragic smashing of individual lives by its cruel hands and the scattering of bewildered people reeling from its blows.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 14 July 2026
Away from the bewildered rancher calling out in surprise, away from the Appaloosa.

— Emily Ruskovich, The Atlantic, 7 July 2026