hard-pressed

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.

But it also found hard-pressed councils trying to do the right thing in difficult circumstances - often as a result of issues such as budget cuts and specialist skill shortages.

From BBC • Jun. 1, 2026

It’s an incredible level of control that investors would be hard-pressed to find in publicly traded companies.

From Barron's • May 20, 2026

“If you do that today, you’re hard-pressed to find a great book that’s 500 to 600 pages long.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 28, 2026

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

There was a silence to be filled, and Art found himself hard-pressed in the face of it to conduct himself in a manner his deputy could learn from.

From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson