How to Use put-upon in a Sentence

put-upon

adjective

• Rubens relishes his role as a put-upon papa.
  — Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor, 16 Jan. 2025
• Norris did, and scored the leading role of a put-upon trucker in Breaker!
  — Bob Mondello, NPR, 20 Mar. 2026
• Dilbert, the put-upon chronicler of office life, has been given the pink slip.
  — Chris Lamb, Fortune, 3 Mar. 2023
• 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
• Eventually, the put-upon Redelmo steals his way across the room and ducks through a doorway.
  — James Sullivan, BostonGlobe.com, 17 Aug. 2023
• Buteau guest stars as Principal Fishbach, a put-upon high school principal.
  — Denise Petski, Deadline, 12 Sep. 2025
• In All Her Fault, just about every man was a cartoon monster and every woman was a put-upon saint.
  — Judy Berman, Time, 10 Dec. 2025
• There, the put-upon oldest daughter of an aristocratic family has to choose between marrying out of duty or desire.
  — Elaina Patton, IndieWire, 3 Dec. 2025
• 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
• Downs also stars as Jimmy, Ava and Deborah’s put-upon manager.
  — Alexis Soloski, New York Times, 31 May 2024
• Infiniti is asked to play the put-upon daughter of a man-child father, a scared child, a phony among true believers, and eventually, a reluctant killer.
  — Paul A. Thompson, Pitchfork, 24 Sep. 2025
• Without the textures of soulful tragedy that etched his face in Alice Rohrwacher’s film, here his JB is a soft-spoken, put-upon nice guy.
  — Jessica Kiang, Variety, 23 May 2025
• Knowing this, knowing that the briny deep awaits and that nobody’s coming to your rescue—along with the loot, the captain’s made off with the ship’s radio—would anyone blame you for being a little put-upon?
  — Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 13 June 2025
• Enrique Duenas is King Arthur’s devoted if put-upon servant Patsy.
  — David L. Coddon, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Sep. 2023
• 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
• 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
• 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
• Raphael nails every line delivery, Woods gets to unleash his wild side from time to time (while usually trapped in a beta bear), and Jalees helps make her put-upon fox endearing and entertaining.
  — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 22 May 2026
• The latter is less of a mother to Agnes than Rosa (Kira Guloien), one of the household’s many Marthas (put-upon domestic servants).
  — Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 2 Apr. 2026
• Ormund is introduced in the third-season premiere issuing orders at his army’s encampment and then, with a put-upon air, closely sniffing his pomander as if offended by the whole dreary business.
  — Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 13 July 2026
• Alexandre and Yelena’s arrival at the country estate managed by Vanya and Sonya, the professor’s put-upon daughter, has thrown the household into chaos.
  — Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 19 Mar. 2025
• 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
• 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
• As sportswriter Raymond Barone, Romano kept the laughs coming through interactions with his overbearing parents and put-upon wife Debra.
  — Kate Hogan, PEOPLE, 16 May 2026
• 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
• Will’s obsessive, put-upon mother, Susan (Tandi Wright), belittles Alice, dresses her down for her attire at the funeral, and forces her to wear heels that don’t fit, leaving her feet bloody.
  — Angelica Jade Bastién, Vulture, 10 July 2026
• 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
• Unlike his put-upon but increasingly absent elder brother, Viscount Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey), this second son feels no obligation to keep up appearances.
  — Judy Berman, Time, 29 Jan. 2026
• Skarsgård is sufficiently wacky and off-putting as the irksome Johannes, and Jamie Demetriou does yeoman’s work as Charli’s put-upon manager, Tim, the poor sap tapped to keep Charli on task (and usually fails).
  — Brian Truitt, USA Today, 5 Feb. 2026
• In director and co-writer Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly, Sandler plays Ron Sukenick, put-upon manager of the titular Hollywood star.
  — Jack Smart, PEOPLE, 4 Jan. 2026