downtrodden
[doun-trod-n]
- tyrannized over; oppressed: the downtrodden plebeians of ancient Rome.
- trampled upon.
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Also down·trod.
Origin of downtrodden
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for downtrodden
Contemporary Examples
But it was good news to the poor, the diseased, the downtrodden and scorned, and all the “little” people.
The Boulevard Carnot, the seedy, downtrodden street that leads out of town, proved the point on my last night there.
But Alig is far from the unshaven and downtrodden man profiled in New York Magazine in 2007.
Responding to all them—especially the ones from “downtrodden” teens in the middle of the country—made him feel good.
He sympathized with the Irish downtrodden, African slaves, and American colonists of the late 1700s.
Historical Examples
In the first place, she was a poor, downtrodden woman; in the second, she was their broker.
In a Little TownRupert Hughes
He was an arrant coward like the most of his downtrodden race.
Tess of the Storm CountryGrace Miller White
From ind to ind of the land, the downtrodden serfs of Ireland are rising in their millions.
My New CurateP.A. Sheehan
The German Yorick was the champion of the oppressed and downtrodden.
Laurence Sterne in GermanyHarvey Waterman Thayer
He was badly dressed, and bore a sad, depressed, downtrodden aspect.
The Vicar of BullhamptonAnthony Trollope
downtrodden
downtrod
- subjugated; oppressed
- trodden down; trampled
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for downtrodden
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper