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

Even within the briefing room, reporters seemed perplexed by some of Warsh’s statements.

— Jeanne Sahadi, CNN Money, 29 July 2026
During an interview with Joe Rogan last week, as my colleague Helen Lewis reported, Vance acted perplexed that people had been so offended when a UFC fighter, competing in a fight at the White House, called former First Lady Michelle Obama a man.

— David A. Graham, The Atlantic, 21 July 2026

Definition of perplexed

Adjective

One bewildered South African man said protesters had burst into his home and stolen the lunch from his plate.

— Julie Bourdin, Christian Science Monitor, 28 July 2026
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