hard put

faced with difficulty or uncertainty about what to say, think, or do she was hard put to explain her department's excessive expenditures Synonyms baffled, confounded, hard-pressed, nonplussed (also nonplused), perplexed Related Words bewildered, confused, disconcerted, fazed; embarrassed, flustered, put out Phrases at a loss, put to it Near Antonyms undaunted, unfazed; composed, untroubled