raw deal

1. An instance of unfair or harsh treatment, as in After 25 years with the bank Bob got a raw deal—no pension, no retirement benefits of any kind, just a gold watch. Raw here means “crude” or “unfair.” [First half of 1900s]

Example Sentences

For most women, though, it’s a raw deal.

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By anyone’s standards, Lohan took the raw deal she was given as a child star whose popularity exploded in the brutal celebrity culture of the early aughts and transformed it into an impressive second act.

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It was already true that straight marriage is, statistically speaking, a raw deal for women.

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Sharks have been getting a raw deal from humans for a long time.

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Logie, who left Division II Point Loma to become Montana State’s head man last season, inherited a raw deal with the Bobcats.

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