more sinned against than sinning

Cultural  

1. An expression used of those who, though they may be guilty of wrongdoing, think themselves the victim of a more serious wrong. From William Shakespeare's King Lear.

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more sinned against than sinning Idioms  

1. Less guilty than those who have injured one, as in It's true she took the money but they did owe her quite a bit—in a way she's more sinned against than sinning. This expression comes from Shakespeare's King Lear (3:2), where the King, on the heath during a storm, so describes his plight.

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Example Sentences

He insists he is a man more sinned against than sinning and is working with lawyers to clear his name.

From BBC • Jul. 13, 2021

He’s willing to acknowledge that his earlier comments about hanging were “trollish and hostile,” but he clearly feels more sinned against than sinning.

From Washington Post • Apr. 23, 2018

EST 16:28 70 min: Poor Lallana, though, more sinned against than sinning, yet so often seems to come off second best.

From The Guardian • Mar. 2, 2016

If the increasingly power-addicted Cromwell feels more sinned against than sinning here, with a script that spells out his psychological motivation, Mr. Miles still conveys the essential intent watchfulness.

From New York Times • Jan. 22, 2014

By some Poe is painted as a fiend incarnate, by others as a man more sinned against than sinning.

From Stories of Authors, British and American by Chubb, Edwin Watts