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
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Recent Examples of hard up
The surge of federal immigration agents in Minnesota over the past few months left many people not only traumatized but financially hard up.
—
Jeanne Sahadi,
CNN Money,
24 Feb. 2026
The game warden who conducted my background check confided that the state is so hard up for hunte-ed instructors that hunting experience is no longer a requirement for teaching the class.
—
The Editors,
Outdoor Life,
30 Oct. 2025
Starring Jocelin Donahue as a college student hard up for cash who takes on a suspicious babysitting gig, The House of the Devil is a Ti West masterpiece.
—
Katie Rife,
Entertainment Weekly,
29 Oct. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for hard up
Jeanne Sahadi,
CNN Money,
24 Feb. 2026
The game warden who conducted my background check confided that the state is so hard up for hunte-ed instructors that hunting experience is no longer a requirement for teaching the class.
—
The Editors,
Outdoor Life,
30 Oct. 2025
Starring Jocelin Donahue as a college student hard up for cash who takes on a suspicious babysitting gig, The House of the Devil is a Ti West masterpiece.
—
Katie Rife,
Entertainment Weekly,
29 Oct. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for hard up
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hard up
Adjective
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Because of that, these hands suffer from high production costs, poor durability against impacts, short operational lifespans, and there are no existing solutions that engineers can readily draw upon, Wang added.
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The extreme heat can also affect people who are physically ill, especially those with heart disease or high blood pressure, or who take certain medications, such as for depression, insomnia, or poor circulation.
Adjective
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This British drama series follows a woman named Emma over the course of more than six decades of her life, from the 1900s through the 1970s, working her way from impoverished maid to the world’s richest woman.
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Known as a Neglected Tropical Disease because of the lack of funding to fight it, schistosomiasis is a serious challenge for impoverished communities.
Adjective
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There were complaints about the car traffic and the financial cost to the broke city.
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Three years into his term, America wasn't broke, but the stock market did experience some of its biggest single-day losses during the coronavirus pandemic.
Cite this Entry
“Hard up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hard%20up. Accessed 6 Jul. 2026.
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