HARD UP Synonyms: 64 Similar and Opposite Words

hard up

adjective

Definition of hard up next

as in poor

lacking money or material possessions despite being undeniably hard up, they had too much pride to accept charity

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of hard up This letter descended to Charles Austen and thence to his granddaughters, who, hard up, sold it in the 1920s, part of a larger cache of relics and manuscripts. —

Literary Hub, 4 Aug. 2025 But figuring out how to finance college so that neither parent nor child are left financially hard up? —

Jeanne Sahadi, CNN Money, 18 May 2025 Obviously someone who loses their job and is really hard up for cash will give serious thought to canceling or pausing subscriptions. —

Josef Adalian, Vulture, 10 Apr. 2025 Over the last two seasons, he’s figured out how to throw the ball hard up to left-handed hitters for weak contact and to their back foot for swing-and-miss. —

Tim Britton, The Athletic, 13 Aug. 2024 See All Example Sentences for hard up

Recent Examples of Synonyms for hard up

Adjective

Still, the storm will provide another test for the Wu administration, which was criticized for its poor snow removal results following last month’s nor’easter.

— Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald, 24 Feb. 2026
The district’s poor spending practices and a broken culture long precede Allen’s leadership, according trustees and other parties.

— Jennah Pendleton, Sacbee.com, 24 Feb. 2026