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
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
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
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The latest information from the National Council on Problem Gambling shows adolescent problem gambling leads to a complex mix of criminal behavior, poor academic achievement, truancy, financial problems, depression, suicide and substance abuse.—
Nick Penzenstadler,
USA Today,
3 Feb. 2026
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Congratulations to Umpire Engzell for being virtually the only person to call her out on her poor tennis behavior.—
Reader Commentary,
Baltimore Sun,
3 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Surely my imagination was not so impoverished?—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
29 Jan. 2026
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They are fascinated by this impoverished district of docks and shabby warehouses, associated in the popular imagination with Asian sailors, white slavery, and cholera.—
Hari Kunzru,
Harpers Magazine,
27 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Corridors are bedecked in vivid wallpaper with oversized flora and animals, real and mythical, and the hotel’s art collection that meets your eye around every corner is a go-for-broke assemblage of everything from old-world oils to ambitious mixed media and 20th-century American photography.—
Arati Menon,
Condé Nast Traveler,
30 Jan. 2026
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Like Jane Eyre—a governess who fell for her affluent employer—Woodley’s character, a young single mother, is a broke outsider in an exclusive community.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
30 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Hard up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hard%20up. Accessed 5 Feb. 2026.
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