hard up en · ADJ
Meanings
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(colloquial) Lacking money; impecunious; in financial difficulties.
Miss Frensham is young, but she is not beautiful, and to put it in that way is to pay her a noticeable compliment. She is also, I gather, regrettably hard up. Now, as I never conceal from my clients, my business is conducted on a purely financial basis […]
1927, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], Max Carrados Mysteries:1886, Jerome K. Jerome, Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow, On being hard up I can speak with authority on the subject of being hard up. I have been a provincial actor. If further evidence be required, which I do not think likely, […]
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(colloquial) Lacking anything.
We were hard up for amusements.
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(broadly, colloquial) Desperate.
Dating him? She must be hard up.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| more hard up | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic | |
| most hard up | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| hard-up | alternative | lexicographic |
Descendants
Synonyms
depauperate · stuck · strapped · lower-class · threadbare · beggarly · in need · pinched · dirt poor · destitute · almsless · boracic · flat · skint · pauperized · arm · poor as a rat · groatless · penurious · beggared · empty-handed · impoverished · broken · necessitous · moneyless · poverty-ridden · goodless · shillingless · possessionless · broke · bankrupt · poor as a church mouse · badly off · down and out · broker than the Ten Commandments · insolvent · feeling the pinch · oofless · penniless · farthingless · pok kai · down on one's uppers · down on one's luck · needy · indigent · unwealthy · down at heel · impecunious · wealthless · poor as Job · poverty-stricken · stone-broke · hard up · poor · stony-broke · disadvantaged
Translations (12)
ru на мели́ (lacking money) · pl bez grosza (lacking money) · gl necesitado (lacking money) · sh шворц (lacking money) · ru без гроша́ (lacking money) · pl spłukany (lacking money) · nl blut (lacking money) · pl bez grosza przy duszy (lacking money) · pl goły i wesoły (lacking money) · pt teso (lacking money) · gl nun apuro (lacking money) · nl platzak (lacking money)