put-upon

[ poot-uh-pon, -pawn ]

adjective
  1. imposed upon; ill-used.

Origin of put-upon

1
First recorded in 1915–20

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use put-upon in a sentence

  • Let them open their minds to us, let them put upon permanent record the significance of all their intrigues and manœuvres.

    The Salvaging Of Civilisation | H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
  • Before the spinet a bench was placed about four feet below the keys, and I was put upon the bench.

    Gulliver's Travels | Jonathan Swift
  • The mother's lips could not finish the charge she was about to put upon her innocent child.

  • I don't want ter see ennybody put upon, nor noways sufferin', ef so be's I kin help; but thet ain't ennythin' stronary, ez I know.

    Ramona | Helen Hunt Jackson
  • And the finger he pointed at the girl quivered with the rage that filled him at this trick they had thought to put upon him.

    St. Martin's Summer | Rafael Sabatini

British Dictionary definitions for put upon

put upon

verb(intr, preposition, usually passive)
  1. to presume on (a person's generosity, good nature, etc); take advantage of: he's always being put upon

  2. to impose hardship on; maltreat

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