put-upon
adjective
imposed upon; ill-used.
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put-upon
American
[poot-uh-pon, -pawn]
/ ˈpʊt əˌpɒn, -ˌpɔn /
adjective
put upon
British
verb
-
to presume on (a person's generosity, good nature, etc); take advantage of
he's always being put upon
-
to impose hardship on; maltreat
Etymology
Origin of put-upon
First recorded in 1915–20
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
I want to emphasize the pressure that was put upon me as a new mom to take pain medication after I refused several times.
From Slate • Jan. 11, 2026
Turns out this same generation may also have been the most put upon and longest suffering.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 10, 2025
And in the years since, so much emotion and reverence have been put upon the film that there’s almost too much to fit into the confines of a single reputation.
From Salon • Jun. 21, 2025
And the condition really is such that the censorship and all the pressure put upon artists is always tied together with the work and the stories they tell.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 5, 2024
“Then if you aren’t sick what favorable construction can you put upon your behavior? Any excuse for it?”
From "Go Set a Watchman: A Novel" by Harper Lee
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
