hard up

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hard up

adjective more hard up · most hard up · hard-up

colloquial Lacking money; impecunious; in financial difficulties. 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, […]
Similar: almsless, arm, badly off, bankrupt, beggared, beggarly, boracic, broke, broken, broker than the Ten Commandments, depauperate, destitute
colloquial Lacking anything. We were hard up for amusements.
broadly, colloquial Desperate. Dating him? She must be hard up.

verb hards up · harding up · harded up · hard-up

Synonym of harden up (to become or make hard)
Similar: harden up

Translations

Every language

adj lacking money

Português	teso
Русский	на мели́ na melí, без гроша́ bez grošá

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MLA

"hard up." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/hard%20up. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

hard up. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/hard%20up

Chicago

"hard up." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/hard%20up.

BibTeX

@misc{hard_up_2026,
  title = {hard up},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/hard%20up},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}