VocabularyBasePractice words

Meaning & use

dire straits

phrase·Advanced

Last updated

UK/ˌdaɪə ˈstreɪts/
US/ˌdaɪər ˈstreɪts/

Meanings

  1. phrasefixed phrase

    A very bad situation in which someone is in serious trouble, especially lacking money or facing danger.

    Grammar: Almost always in dire straits, with a plural verb if used as a subject: the straits are dire.

    Patterns

    • in dire straits
    • be in dire straits

    After losing his job, he was in dire straits.

    The hospital is in dire straits and needs urgent funding.

    Many farmers were in dire straits after the drought.

  2. phrasefixed phrase

    A condition of great need or hardship that may soon end badly if no help arrives.

    Grammar: Often used with finances or the future of an organization.

    Patterns

    • leave someone in dire straits
    • find yourself in dire straits

    The sudden bill left the family in dire straits.

    The club found itself in dire straits last season.

    Without rain, the town's water supply will be in dire straits.

Common combinations

in dire straits
The company is in dire straits.
financial dire straits
The charity faced dire financial straits.
leave in dire straits
The storm left many families in dire straits.
find yourself in dire straits
He found himself in dire straits after the failed investment.
economy in dire straits
The country's economy is in dire straits.

Synonyms and how they differ

trouble
Trouble is general and mild, while dire straits stresses severe, urgent hardship.
plight
Plight names the difficult condition itself and is more formal.
crisis
Crisis means a turning point or emergency, whereas dire straits describes ongoing misfortune.
hot water
Hot water is informal and suggests trouble you caused, not necessarily poverty.

Opposites

clovergood shape

Word family

dire adjective
extremely serious or urgent
direly adverb
in a very serious way
strait noun
a narrow channel of water
straits noun
a difficult situation in the plural, as in this phrase

Commonly confused: dire straits or straight? dire straits or strait?

dire straits vs straight

Straits, meaning a difficult state, is not spelled straight, which means not curved.

dire straits vs strait

A strait is a narrow channel of water between two seas, from which the idea of being squeezed arose.

Practice

After the flood destroyed the shop, the owners were in ______ and needed help.

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “dire straits”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Your sentence stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.

Explore more words