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
Once again, our protagonist is forced into a compromising position on the eve of a critical business deal when a downtrodden kidnapper mistakes his driver’s son for his own kid, Trey (Aubrey Joseph).
—
David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 19 May 2025
Welcome to Wrexham season 4 It's been four years since Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney brought a downtrodden soccer club, Wrexham FC, to the spotlight in a real-life Ted Lasso situation.
—Rebecca Aizin, People.com, 16 May 2025
Through little eyebrow raises, adjustments to the set of his mouth, and his slumped posture on Smiley’s couch, Hardy communicates how downtrodden Tarr feels.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 25 Apr. 2025
As for the idea mentioned by Schefter that claims teams are 'already tanking' for the rising sophomore, there are a few downtrodden franchises that would fit that mold.
—David Faris, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for downtrodden
David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 19 May 2025
Welcome to Wrexham season 4 It's been four years since Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney brought a downtrodden soccer club, Wrexham FC, to the spotlight in a real-life Ted Lasso situation.
—Rebecca Aizin, People.com, 16 May 2025
Through little eyebrow raises, adjustments to the set of his mouth, and his slumped posture on Smiley’s couch, Hardy communicates how downtrodden Tarr feels.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 25 Apr. 2025
As for the idea mentioned by Schefter that claims teams are 'already tanking' for the rising sophomore, there are a few downtrodden franchises that would fit that mold.
—David Faris, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for downtrodden
Recent Examples of Synonyms for downtrodden
oppressed
Adjective
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My hope is that people will rally behind my message, and the Pride Warriors can be used as a tool to unite the LGBTQA community, both with each other, and with other marginalised and oppressed communities such as people of color, immigrants, and women.—
Gary Adrian Randall,
Denver Post,
25 June 2025
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There’s something dubious about this mythology—why has a real-life, much oppressed ethnicity been made cinematically synonymous with a league of contract killers?—but its development, nonetheless, has been engrossing by dint of its complexity.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
5 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Downtrodden.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/downtrodden. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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