Meaning & use
dire straits
A very serious or difficult situation, especially involving danger, hardship, or financial trouble.
See it in a sentence
After the factory closed, many families in the town found themselves in dire straits.
The company was in dire straits, with barely enough cash to cover next month's payroll.
A note on using this word
Dire straits is almost always used with the preposition 'in,' as in 'in dire straits,' and typically implies urgency rather than everyday difficulty.
Words with a similar meaning
desperate situationcrisis
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
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