as in perplexed
faced with difficulty or uncertainty about what to say, think, or do
they will be hard-pressed to come up with any facts that actually support their argument
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Recent Examples of hard-pressed
Damat Anyone visiting Turkey would be hard-pressed not to get exposed to Damat.
—
Jean E. Palmieri, Footwear News, 30 Jan. 2026
An adult earning barely $30,000 a year behind a fast-food counter will be hard-pressed to support a family, Holder said.
—Daniel De Visé, USA Today, 27 Jan. 2026
If Washington State, Oregon State, Fresno State and Texas State continue to wallow, the Pac-12 will be hard-pressed to match, much less overtake, the Big East.
—Jon Wilner, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Jan. 2026
Even the least superstitious among us would be hard-pressed to deny that an abnormal amount of terrible things have happened to the Kennedy family.
—Chris Murphy, Vanity Fair, 20 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for hard-pressed
Jean E. Palmieri, Footwear News, 30 Jan. 2026
An adult earning barely $30,000 a year behind a fast-food counter will be hard-pressed to support a family, Holder said.
—Daniel De Visé, USA Today, 27 Jan. 2026
If Washington State, Oregon State, Fresno State and Texas State continue to wallow, the Pac-12 will be hard-pressed to match, much less overtake, the Big East.
—Jon Wilner, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Jan. 2026
Even the least superstitious among us would be hard-pressed to deny that an abnormal amount of terrible things have happened to the Kennedy family.
—Chris Murphy, Vanity Fair, 20 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for hard-pressed
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hard-pressed
Adjective
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As the recruits push through the toughest weeks of training, the narrative occasionally cuts to TV news reports of an asteroid entering Earth's atmosphere, leaving NASA utterly perplexed.—
Allison DeGrushe,
Entertainment Weekly,
10 Mar. 2026
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Reporters at the press conference, perplexed, asked Trump about the gap.—
David A. Graham,
The Atlantic,
10 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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But some children—Hazel, Evan, and, of course, Jude—baffled Lilian.—
Yiyun Li,
New Yorker,
1 Mar. 2026
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Emotional rollercoasters for baffled European allies.—
Nick Paton Walsh,
CNN Money,
24 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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There was no punchline, no twist — just the straightforward, slightly bewildered observation that someone, somewhere, had performed surgery on a grape.—
Samantha Agate,
Miami Herald,
26 Mar. 2026
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Exasperated, bewildered, and realizing other musicians were also dealing with this, Bender came up with a way to show just how porous the system was.—
Jon Blistein,
Rolling Stone,
25 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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For anyone who feels embarrassed—everyone starts somewhere.—
Emma Hinchliffe,
Fortune,
26 Mar. 2026
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Also featuring Mark Ruffalo, Judy Greer and Andy Serkis, the movie centered on teenage Jenna Rink, who gets embarrassed at a party and makes a wish that transforms her into her 30-year-old self, played by Garner.—
Ryan Gajewski,
HollywoodReporter,
24 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Hard-pressed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hard-pressed. Accessed 4 Apr. 2026.
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