English Dictionary

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 ofplay

  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)



 Learn English with... Proverbs 
"History repeats itself." (English proverb)

"The hand with mud, the bread with honey." (Albanian proverb)

"He who was left by the bald is taken by the hairy." (Arabic proverb)

"An idle man is up to no good." (Corsican proverb)



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