as in poor
lacking money or material possessions
despite being undeniably hard up, they had too much pride to accept charity
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
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
However, the typical Planet Organic shopper isn’t likely to be that hard up.
—Ryan Hogg, Fortune Europe, 22 July 2024
They’ve been hit particularly hard up front on offense and need youth.
—Brad Biggs, Hartford Courant, 25 Apr. 2024
See All Example Sentences for hard up
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
However, the typical Planet Organic shopper isn’t likely to be that hard up.
—Ryan Hogg, Fortune Europe, 22 July 2024
They’ve been hit particularly hard up front on offense and need youth.
—Brad Biggs, Hartford Courant, 25 Apr. 2024
See All Example Sentences for hard up
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hard up
Adjective
-
Porter has been a lead creator before, but that was on cellar-dwelling Houston Rockets squads that became a breeding ground for poor habits.—
Fred Katz,
New York Times,
16 Oct. 2025
-
Young people want better governance and are fed up with suffering from poor services and economies while their leaders get rich around them and inequality grows.—
Elizabeth Shackelford,
Twin Cities,
16 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
The United Nations predicts the cost of reconstruction in the impoverished territory is a staggering $70 billion.—
NPR,
NPR,
16 Oct. 2025
-
Set within the League of Legends universe, the Netflix series follows sisters Vi (Hailee Steinfeld) and Jinx (Ella Purnell), who find themselves on opposite sides of a brewing war between the impoverished undercity of Zaun and the futuristic, wealthy city of Piltover.—
Abby Monteil,
Them.,
15 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
For some irony, given the licensing deal with Netflix, Korvo and Terry announce that the Solar Opposites are broke, with all of their moneymaking machines zapped.—
Nellie Andreeva,
Deadline,
29 Sep. 2025
-
In another magical Miami tale, a broke witch who works in a spellshop and an adjunct professor who’s secretly a popular himbo mage team up to win a spellcasting reality show competition — except someone is sabotaging the contestants’ work.—
Lia Amador,
PEOPLE,
20 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hard up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hard%20up. Accessed 20 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share