penurious vs hard up

penurious and hard up both are adjectives.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
penurious	No	Yes	No	No
hard up	No	Yes	No	No

As adjectives, penurious and hard up are synonyms defined as:

Other synonyms of penurious include impecunious, in straitened circumstances, penniless, pinched.

penurious (adjective)	hard up (adjective)
not having enough money to pay for necessities	not having enough money to pay for necessities
excessively unwilling to spend