be hard up
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.
George laughs gruffly: “You lot must be hard up for heroes.”
From The Guardian • Jun. 11, 2018
The finding that loneliness can be contagious also caught some readers off-guard—wouldn't lonely souls be hard up for people to infect?
From Slate • Apr. 7, 2010
A ghost must be hard up, one would think, to visit my Puggy; there ought to be an asylum for impoverished spectres.
From Peggy by Barry, Etheldred B. (Etheldred Breeze)
The whole world is going to be hard up in consequence of the bankruptcy of these nations, the inestimable destruction of property, and the loss of productive men.
From The Life and Letters of Walter H. Page, Volume I by Hendrick, Burton Jesse
Sophie, observing that she wore no jewelry of any kind except a ring, in which the diamond was so large that it must surely be paste, decided that her visitor must be "hard up."
From Poppy The Story of a South African Girl by Stockley, Cynthia
