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
Kai Jones does not have two-way eligibility, and that matters a lot for a team hard up against the luxury tax.
—
Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 14 Aug. 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
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
After decades of bringing us the incredible shrinking transistor, chipmakers are now hard up against the limits of their printing technique: Trying to use today’s ultraviolet lasers to print the next generation of circuits would be like trying to trace a fine line with a preschooler’s crayon.
—IEEE Spectrum, 30 Dec. 2011
See All Example Sentences for hard up
Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 14 Aug. 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
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
After decades of bringing us the incredible shrinking transistor, chipmakers are now hard up against the limits of their printing technique: Trying to use today’s ultraviolet lasers to print the next generation of circuits would be like trying to trace a fine line with a preschooler’s crayon.
—IEEE Spectrum, 30 Dec. 2011
See All Example Sentences for hard up
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hard up
Adjective
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And that 44-point home victory was with Brandon Miller having a poor shooting night (5 of 15, 13 points).—
Scott Fowler,
Charlotte Observer,
25 Mar. 2026
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The Dolphins’ struggles during the last decade-plus with Ross signing the checks was a result of poor leadership at the top of the football operations side.—
Omar Kelly,
Miami Herald,
24 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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The Indian film follows an impoverished elderly couple whose developmentally disabled son has become a source of shame in their village.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
26 Mar. 2026
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The backstory The program began more than 60 years ago and typically provides medical aid to impoverished communities and rural, underserved areas — often in lower-resource countries like Angola, Guatemala and Venezuela but in some high-income countries as well.—
Gabrielle Emanuel,
NPR,
24 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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In less than seven years, the Social Security retirement trust fund will go broke, and under federal law, its insolvency will automatically trigger gigantic reductions in benefits.—
Shawn Tully,
Fortune,
26 Mar. 2026
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The go-for-broke concept, which includes a high-tech heist, a high-speed truck chase and a massive explosion of Cheetos dust, shows the levels to which marketers must ascend to capture consumer attention in media venues that constantly offer new stimuli.—
Brian Steinberg,
Variety,
26 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Hard up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hard%20up. Accessed 31 Mar. 2026.
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