How to Use put-upon in a Sentence

put-upon

adjective
  • Hannah reached for the bottle of Dom and filled her glass to the brim with a put-upon sigh, pity swimming in her hazel eyes.
    — Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 12 Feb. 2025
  • Dilbert, the put-upon chronicler of office life, has been given the pink slip.
    — Chris Lamb, Fortune, 3 Mar. 2023
  • Eventually, the put-upon Redelmo steals his way across the room and ducks through a doorway.
    — James Sullivan, BostonGlobe.com, 17 Aug. 2023
  • Ellen Green reprising her celebrated turn as the put-upon Audrey?
    — Scott Hocker, theweek, 1 May 2024
  • Huller’s performance as the put-upon daughter of a prankster father earned rave reviews, and the actor says Hollywood took interest — but not for long.
    — Jenelle Riley, Variety, 28 Dec. 2023
  • In a small role, Anjan Vasan nails the put-upon female cop (the lone one in the department) seeking to unmask this cursing culprit, a task that’s hard to achieve since she through the quicksand of sexism that surrounds her.
    — Randy Myers, The Mercury News, 4 Apr. 2024
  • But it was tweaked from a darker earlier draft which gave his put-upon girlfriend Shelby (Brittany O’Grady) less agency.
    — William Earl, Variety, 4 Oct. 2024
  • The put-upon journalist also finds some time to torment the new fiancée (Reid Scott) of his former flame (Michelle Williams), using his parasitic alter ego to one-up the battle of the sexes.
    — Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 23 Oct. 2024
  • For the perpetually put-upon Rhiannon, victimhood and villainy are two sides of the same coin.
    — Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Oct. 2024
  • These films feature their own manner of put-upon wives, though they are afforded something Mollie is not: a scene that cracks them apart, allowing their frustration and fears to spill into the open air of the film.
    — Angelica Jade Bastién, Vulture, 12 Jan. 2024
  • But once the truth of Reena’s demise is revealed, the sympathy for these put-upon characters starts to increasingly get in the way of true empathy for their experiences.
    — Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter, 16 Apr. 2024
  • Nicholas Hoult stars as a put-upon underling who falls in love with a New Orleans cop (Awkwafina) and decides to take a stand against his controlling employer.
    — Keith Phipps, Rolling Stone, 4 Apr. 2023
  • As the two women argue over which one of them should ascend to a higher position of power, Russell provides Wyler with a put-upon weariness that matches her glower.
    — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 13 Nov. 2024
  • On a 115-degree summer afternoon in a wilting, AC-challenged Marseilles apartment block, a put-upon middle-aged wife passes out on her balcony.
    — Guy Lodge, Variety, 21 May 2024
  • Downs also stars as Jimmy, Ava and Deborah’s put-upon manager.
    — Alexis Soloski, New York Times, 31 May 2024
  • Enrique Duenas is King Arthur’s devoted if put-upon servant Patsy.
    — David L. Coddon, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Sep. 2023
  • Sandler plays the devoted but put-upon husband with a delicate balance of compassion and aloofness, and in moments like this, a wounded candor comes through that is oddly touching.
    — Calum Marsh, New York Times, 31 Mar. 2023
  • Peter Pan’s closest thing to a hero might be the show within a show’s put-upon stage manager (Chris Leask), who wanders through the background of scenes fixing the lighting and unsticking the actors before being thrust into a starring role himself.
    — Vulture, 19 Apr. 2023
  • Nothing, apparently, has been forgotten, whether by her, her anonymous ghostwriter, or some put-upon researcher.
    — Alexander Larman, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 29 Nov. 2024
  • Starring Seth Rogen as put-upon studio head Matt Remick, who tries to balance his cinephilia with the demands of the job, the series turns topics like corporate intellectual property and meddling execs into high comedy (and high stress) situations.
    — Matt Brennan, Los Angeles Times, 9 Mar. 2025
  • Revolving around our beloved, put-upon protagonist returning to her deceased father’s homeland to perform one final favor, this threequel is surprisingly lifeless and almost laugh-less.
    — Courtney Howard, Variety, 7 Sep. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'put-upon.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: