as in helpless
unable to act or achieve one's purpose
the inadequate supplies of vaccine left many people high and dry when the flu season arrived
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Recent Examples of high and dry
Kiffin instantly became the most hated man in Oxford after leaving the Rebels high and dry just as the College Football Playoff was set to begin, accepting a contract reportedly worth nearly $100 million.
—
Ryan Morik, FOXNews.com, 15 Feb. 2026
New Year's bowl game upsets left several College Football Playoff favorites high and dry, and now, the semifinal opponents are set.
—Julianna Duennes Russ, Austin American Statesman, 2 Jan. 2026
But now, thanks in part to Howard, some seem convinced the Nick Saban disciple could be enticed to take another offer and leave Texas high and dry.
—Michael Gallagher, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Nov. 2025
That leaves her high and dry, at the mercy of MI5 and the Dogs, but gives Farouk and his cohort Kamal a chance to position themselves at a church for maximum impact.
—Scott Tobias, Vulture, 29 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for high and dry
Ryan Morik, FOXNews.com, 15 Feb. 2026
New Year's bowl game upsets left several College Football Playoff favorites high and dry, and now, the semifinal opponents are set.
—Julianna Duennes Russ, Austin American Statesman, 2 Jan. 2026
But now, thanks in part to Howard, some seem convinced the Nick Saban disciple could be enticed to take another offer and leave Texas high and dry.
—Michael Gallagher, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Nov. 2025
That leaves her high and dry, at the mercy of MI5 and the Dogs, but gives Farouk and his cohort Kamal a chance to position themselves at a church for maximum impact.
—Scott Tobias, Vulture, 29 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for high and dry
Recent Examples of Synonyms for high and dry
Adjective
-
The child was helpless against the power of the surging surf, injured while tossed by the waves.—
Laylan Connelly,
Oc Register,
4 June 2026
-
American society—grotesquely unequal and divided, helpless before its demagogic and oligarchic manipulators—is no longer a stranger to the dark ambiguities of lopsided economic progress.—
Wyatt Williams,
Harpers Magazine,
2 June 2026
Adjective
-
Three All Saints Episcopal School students lured a fourth student to participate in a TikTok challenge this month that became a catastrophic assault, leaving the boy unconscious for several minutes, temporarily paralyzed and with fractured vertebrae, according to a lawsuit filed this week.—
Emerson Clarridge,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
29 May 2026
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Samuelson has been left paralyzed from the chest down due to the bullet lodged in his spine.—
Todd Feurer,
CBS News,
27 May 2026
Adjective
-
As the story goes, attendance was weak, the weather was bad, and the tournament experience was just lacking.—
James Burky,
Denver Post,
29 May 2026
-
As many as 40 states combine one-party control with institutional barriers weak enough to fall to political pressure.—
Bruce Sibley,
Time,
29 May 2026
Adjective
-
This approach seemed common when authorities were uninterested or incompetent.—
Peter Hessler,
New Yorker,
31 May 2026
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Court records from an earlier criminal case show Parker had previously been found mentally incompetent to stand trial and ordered to a state hospital for treatment.—
Kelly Davis,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
30 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“High and dry.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/high%20and%20dry. Accessed 6 Jun. 2026.
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