fallen on hard times
Down on luck
Fallen on hard times describes someone who was once comfortable or prosperous but now struggles financially or faces serious misfortune.
The phrase emphasizes decline from a better position: The family had fallen on hard times after the factory closed.
It often implies sympathy—circumstances beyond one's control rather than personal failure.
- povertySevere lack of resources
- down and outLacking money and hope
- bankruptcyLegal status when insolvent
- despairTotal absence of hope
- unemploymentBeing without paid work
hopelessness · foreclosure · destitution · on the streets · soup kitchen · hard luck · bad break · rough patch · austerity · isolation · scarcity · disenfranchisement · stigma · marginalization · recession · rock bottom · debt · scraping by
fallen on hard timesthriving
Succeeding vigorously
prospering · flourishing · wealthy · well-off · affluent
fallen on hard timesblessed
Receiving divine favor
fortunate · lucky · riding high · on top of the world · in good shape
fallen on hard timeson the rise
Becoming greater or more
rising · ascending · climbing the ladder · going places · moving up
fallen, falling, falls, harder, hardest, harden, hardened, hardening, hardness