hard-pressed

American  

[hahrd-prest] / ˈhɑrdˈprɛst /

Or hardpressed

adjective

1. heavily burdened or oppressed, as by overwork or financial difficulties; harried; put-upon.

   Synonyms:

   beleaguered

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hard-pressed British  

adjective

1. in difficulties

   the swimmer was hard-pressed

2. subject to severe competition

3. subject to severe attack

4. closely pursued

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hard pressed Idioms  

1. Overburdened, put upon, as in With all these bills to pay we find ourselves hard pressed. [c. 1800]

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Etymology

Origin of hard-pressed

First recorded in 1815–25

Example Sentences

I’m hard-pressed to think of any movie I’d watch four times in a month if I didn’t genuinely admire it on some level.

From Salon • Apr. 5, 2026

"This legal action has dragged on for months, cost hard-pressed local residents a fortune and we still have no clear outcome," Whitehouse said.

From BBC • Mar. 10, 2026

But critics say the push to refine should have come sooner, with Zimbabwe already having lost out on several years of revenues for the hard-pressed local economy.

From Barron's • Feb. 26, 2026

I’m happy to give the Australians their due, but I’m hard-pressed to see how their design offers any guidance to improving the U.S. system.

From MarketWatch • Jan. 8, 2026

“Well, if you insist, Tag, although it seems to me we’d be hard-pressed to go against the law.”

From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam