hour of need

🌎Region: International 📊Difficulty Level:intermediate

💡Meaning

A time when someone urgently needs help, support, or resources; a critical moment of difficulty.

🕰️Origin

From older uses of “hour” meaning a particular time or moment, especially a critical one. The phrase is long established in English (notably in religious and literary contexts) to mean a moment of distress requiring aid.

📝Notes

Slightly formal and often emotional, used for serious difficulty. Commonly appears as “in (someone’s) hour of need,” implying loyalty or support.

💬Examples

When my car broke down, my sister came to my aid in my hour of need.
True friends show up in your hour of need, not just when things are going well.
The charity provides meals and shelter to families in their hour of need.
In his hour of need, the community raised money to cover his medical bills.
The emergency fund is there for your hour of need, so try not to spend it casually.

📘Grammar & Usage Notes

Most common as a noun phrase in patterns like “in your hour of need,” “in their hour of need,” or “at a/their hour of need.” Usually singular (“hour”), with possessive pronouns; articles are often omitted with a possessive.

🔗Synonyms

time of need
time of crisis
moment of truth
hour of crisis

↔️Antonyms

good times
a time of plenty
a moment of ease