Meaning & use
downtrodden
Oppressed or badly treated by people in power, and left with little status or hope.
See it in a sentence
The charity provides food and shelter to the downtrodden in the city's poorest neighborhoods.
The novel follows a downtrodden factory worker who slowly finds the courage to speak out.
A note on using this word
Downtrodden usually implies prolonged mistreatment by an authority or system, not just a single hardship.
Words with a similar meaning
oppresseddisadvantaged
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
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