hard-put
Americanadjective
Etymology
Origin of hard-put
First recorded in 1890–95
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
If it’s possible to work around a no-beard policy when the stakes are life and death, I’m hard-put to imagine a job where accommodation isn’t possible.
From Washington Post • Sep. 15, 2022
I’m hard-put to advise today’s graduates on how to succeed in the workplace.
From Washington Post • May 26, 2022
You will be hard-put to find the Mart mentioned in the literature about what Thomas Mann dubbed “German California.”
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 14, 2022
If that didn’t happen, I’m hard-put to explain exactly how this scene came together.
From The Verge • Aug. 28, 2017
Note 18, page 25: Scouts who are in camp or on the trail without fish-hooks and are hard-put to catch fish, may try an old Indian and scout method.
From Pluck on the Long Trail Boy Scouts in the Rockies by Sabin, Edwin L. (Edwin Legrand)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
