put-upon


Also found in: Thesaurus.

put-upon

adj
informal treated badly, esp by somebody who takes advantage of one's willingness to help them, or by being asked to do an excessive amount of work
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

put′-upon`



adj.
imposed upon; ill-used.
[1915–20]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Adj.1.put-upon - of personsput-upon - of persons; taken advantage of; "after going out of his way to help his friend get the job he felt not appreciated but used"
misused - used incorrectly or carelessly or for an improper purpose; "misused words are often laughable but one weeps for misused talents"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations

put-upon

[ˈpʊtəˌpɒn] ADJ she's feeling very put-uponcree que los demás la están explotando
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
References in periodicals archive ?
DRAMA Put-upon Gail has a major clean-up job, but as her ex Dave pitches in, she hopes it could be a positive sign.
He resiles from anything implying that he was anything but a put-upon warehouseman.
ALSO on the road for the last time this week was Bucket (BBC4, Thursday), a quirky, often car-based sitcom featuring the inimitable Miriam Margolyes as terminally ill Mim and writer Frog Stone (yes, I have Googled it; no, I don't know if that's her real name) as her put-upon daughter, Fran.
Call me a softie, if you like, but on a beautifully sun-dappled train journey on Wednesday evening, I got slightly sentimental and a tad emotional at the sight of tiny, newborn lambs gambolling around the fields on their spindly legs in pursuit of their put-upon mums.
Out of this set-up, Gillian Cross has fashioned a good old fashioned story of threat and danger and breathless chase, with the reader totally caught up with, and rooting for, the put-upon children and their desire to protect the serval.
He was miserly, stuttering shopkeeper Arkwright's put-upon nephew, who wanted more out of life than being an errand boy.
I STRUGGLED to feel a great deal of sympathy for Rebecca Lynch (You Say, April 23) in her lengthy defence of put-upon landlords.
This is a beautifully written and ambitious piece that sees McNair deftly stripping standup to the bone as we follow the story of Donald Robertson, a put-upon kid who uses comedy to win over his classmates.
actuallyBprpuprolefo But the overwhelming problem is that those put-upon supporters probably trust politicians less than the shadiest of foreign football club owners.
The BBC said the series about the young King Arthur and his put-upon wizard servant will come to a "natural and dramatic end" when it bows out with a two-part finale.
As put-upon Sheila Grant in Brookside, and more recently as long-suffering Barbara in the Royle Family, the actress has been at the centre of our living rooms since the 1980s.
And for the poor, put-upon citizens in the current climate, Hard Times.