idiom · neutral
left high and dry
/lɛft haɪ ænd draɪ/LEFT·HIGH·and·DRY
abandoned in a difficult situation without help
Examples
“The volunteers were left high and dry when the charity stopped funding the project.”
“After the company changed suppliers, many local businesses were left high and dry.”
“She felt left high and dry by her friends when they all cancelled at the last minute.”
Band 8 sentence
“When the funding vanished at short notice, the whole initiative was left high and dry, forcing organisers to cancel several community services.”
Collocations
- be left high and dry
- leave somebody high and dry
Word family
Common mistakes
He was left high and dryed.→He was left high and dry.
They were left up high and dry.→They were left high and dry.
Say it for a higher band
5abandoned→6left without help→7+left high and dry
Synonyms
stranded
abandoned
Easily confused
stranded
“After the storm, many travellers were stranded at the airport.”
Related words
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In Hardship
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