dire straits

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First use appears c. 1817. See cite below. The phrase stems from nautical terminology, where straits refers to narrow, treacherous passages of water between landmasses, posing serious navigation risks.

29 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Chinese Mandarin: 水深火熱 /水深火热 (shuǐshēnhuǒrè) — difficult position
• Dutch: in het nauw — difficult position
• Finnish: in dire straits — difficult position
• Finnish: vaikeudet — difficult position
• Finnish: hankaluudet — difficult position
• Finnish: ahtaalla — difficult position
• Finnish: kiipeli — difficult position
• French: mauvaise passe — difficult position
• German: furchtbare Notlage — difficult position
• German: große Not — difficult position
• German: schlimme Lage — difficult position
• Hungarian: szükséghelyzet — difficult position
• Japanese: 四苦八苦 (shikuhakku) — difficult position
• Norwegian: urent farvann — difficult position
• Norwegian: store vanskeligheter — difficult position
• Polish: tarapaty — difficult position
• Polish: opały — difficult position
• Portuguese: apuro — difficult position
• Portuguese: aperto — difficult position
• Portuguese: saia justa — difficult position
• Portuguese: maus lençóis — difficult position
• Romanian: situație disperată — difficult position
• Russian: отча́янное положе́ние (otčájannoje položénije) — difficult position
• Russian: бе́дственное положе́ние (bédstvennoje položénije) — difficult position
• Russian: больша́я беда́ (bolʹšája bedá) — difficult position
• Serbo-Croatian: u škripcu — difficult position
• Spanish: gran aprieto — difficult position
• Swedish: trångmål — difficult position
• Turkish: darda — difficult position