as in oppressed
suffering grave abuse or injustice at the hands of one in authority
a war that was supposed to liberate the downtrodden citizens of that nation
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Recent Examples of downtrodden
Deutch's Gail enlists the help of Otto (Miles Gutierrez-Riley), Caleb (Wang), Vincent (Ken Marino) and John Slattery (playing a hilariously downtrodden version of himself) to track down Hamm in his home turf of Hollywood.
—
Jack Smart,
PEOPLE,
27 May 2026
Last week, a CNN poll showed Americans broadly feel downtrodden about their financial situations.
—
David Goldman,
CNN Money,
21 May 2026
And the dejected diehard of a downtrodden franchise isn’t truly stuck in a one-sided detrimental relationship.
—
Jacob Feldman,
Sportico.com,
11 May 2026
Setting expectations for a downtrodden player’s next season isn’t always easy, even when there’s an explanation for the statistical dropoff.
—
Al Melchior,
New York Times,
24 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for downtrodden
Jack Smart,
PEOPLE,
27 May 2026
Last week, a CNN poll showed Americans broadly feel downtrodden about their financial situations.
—
David Goldman,
CNN Money,
21 May 2026
And the dejected diehard of a downtrodden franchise isn’t truly stuck in a one-sided detrimental relationship.
—
Jacob Feldman,
Sportico.com,
11 May 2026
Setting expectations for a downtrodden player’s next season isn’t always easy, even when there’s an explanation for the statistical dropoff.
—
Al Melchior,
New York Times,
24 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for downtrodden
Recent Examples of Synonyms for downtrodden
oppressed
Adjective
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The Irish were the original oppressed people from the English Empire, and the original colony.
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The body pointed to the fact that Iran’s Farabi cinema body, which oversees the country’s submission, was directly controlled by the hardline Islamic Republic regime government, which in turn has suppressed freedom of speech and brutally oppressed filmmakers across its 47 years in power.
Cite this Entry
“Downtrodden.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/downtrodden. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.
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