ILL-USED

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does ill-used mean? 

• ILL-USED (adjective)
  The adjective ILL-USED has 1 sense:

1. (of persons) taken advantage of

  Familiarity information: ILL-USED used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ILL-USED (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(of persons) taken advantage of

Synonyms:

exploited; ill-used; put-upon; used; victimised; victimized

Context example:

after going out of his way to help his friend get the job he felt not appreciated but used

Similar:

misused (used incorrectly or carelessly or for an improper purpose)

 Context examples 

“Who has ill-used him, you girl?” said Steerforth.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

A rain of pecks fell on his ill-used nose.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

“You’ve been the most ill-used man in the world, Ned,” said he.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

They had all been very ill-used since she last saw her sister.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

I said so—I said so warmly, for I felt that the Professor was an ill-used man.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

She had no resources for solitude; and inheriting a considerable share of the Elliot self-importance, was very prone to add to every other distress that of fancying herself neglected and ill-used.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

She felt that he had been very ill-used, and was quite unhappy in having to communicate what had passed.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

If she were ill-used, then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I was confined to my room, terrorised by the most horrible threats, cruelly ill-used to break my spirit—see this stab on my shoulder and the bruises from end to end of my arms—and a gag was thrust into my mouth on the one occasion when I tried to call from the window.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Was ever any poor girl so ill-used by her servants as I am!

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)