dire straits
11
7.4
- noun
- /ˈdaɪər streɪts/
- Informal
:
apuros
- Many families are in dire straits due to the rising cost of living and unemployment.
They've often sort of lost their jobs, living on the fringes, maybe in really dire straits.
- They've often sort of lost their jobs, living on the fringes, maybe in really dire straits.
- So you've got an enormous growth in people that, you know, have fallen into really serious dire straits.
- But it's not even something that important if somebody was like, you know, in dire straits.
- I mean, look, it is not new for the White House or the press to cover up presidents who are in dire straits.
- And to me, if we don't really resolve those problems, we're just waiting for the next recession and the next time we're in dire straits.
- But now I know that in in dire straits.
Examples
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In particular, the stubbornly high unemployment rate has left millions of Americans in dire straits.
Blog text (6) -
Well, you're in dire straits, financially.
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I was in dire straits.
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But the real issue is that the public education system is in dire straits and threatened from many directions.
Blog text (7) -
Part of the reason, I believe, is that they're in such financial dire straits.
Blog text (21) -
The CEO of Hostess said the company is in dire straits.
Blog text (28) -
New York's subway system is in dire straits, with major lines still closed.
Blog text (22) -
I don't have to tell you that the American superhero comic book industry is in dire straits.
Blog text (20) -
He's doing it not just to make money, but to make sure other people who are in financial dire straits have a shot at the future.
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Masters speaks glowingly of the satisfaction he got from helping people in dire straits.
Academic text (2007)
Synonyms
240
3.6
A state of very strong pain, worry or serious trouble
128
3.4
A time of serious difficulty, often with little money or food
98
6.5
A difficult situation that is hard to get out of
81
5.8
A difficult or embarrassing situation that is hard to escape
40
4.5
A time when people have little money and life is hard
21
8.2
A difficult time when people have little money or help
17
6.0
Very sick or having serious money problems
14
6.7
In trouble and needing help to fix a problem
2
7.4
A situation of very great trouble and urgent need with no easy way out
A difficult time when someone has little money or many problems
A person who has little money and cannot buy basic things
Antonyms
How Serious
2
7.4
- Informal
11
7.4
128
3.4
∞
1.0
∞
1.2
∞
3.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly built from 'dire' (very serious/urgent) + 'straits' (a state of hardship or difficulty), so 'dire straits' straightforwardly conveys 'very serious difficulties' when a learner knows both constituent senses. While 'strait' also has a literal geographic sense (a narrow channel), the figurative sense of difficulty is well-established and parallels expressions in other languages, making the compound compositional for learners familiar with that sense.
Etymology
The idiom dire straits may come from old sailors. A strait is a narrow part of the sea where a ship can get stuck or be in real danger, so being in dire straits came to mean 'in great trouble'.