hard done by

Related to hard done by: not to mention, in the midst, in the first place, pick up the slack, wreak havoc

hard done-by

Mistreated or abused; cheated; dejected. Often preceded by "feel." The company paid Steve a generous severance package after firing him, but he still claims he was hard done-by. I don't think you have a right to feel hard done-by since you received the same level of assessment as everyone else!
See also: hard
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

hard done by

BRITISH
COMMON If you are hard done by, you have been treated unfairly. Those who felt hard done by made their dissatisfaction clear. He really felt they'd been hard done by, and he would have liked to help them. Note: You can use hard-done-by before a noun to describe someone who has been treated unfairly. Sibley plays the role of the hard-done-by husband.
See also: by, done, hard
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.
See also:
  • hard done-by
  • feel hard done-by
  • be hard done-by
  • be/feel hard done by
  • take eggs for money
  • (Is) life getting you down?
  • (Are) things getting you down?
  • things getting you down?
  • Life got you down?
  • Things got you down?
References in periodicals archive
The Street is broadcast after the watershed but I don't want to listen to people using both the f-word and the c-word to tell the world how hard done by they are.
I feel hard done by." Hughes feels the stewards could have used their discretion over the incident and cited a previous case of careless riding, which brought the jockey a five-day ban when he had caused severe interference and nearly put a rival over the rails.
In the second half, it was the hosts who felt hard done by when Jonas Olsson appeared to catch goalkeeper Robert Green with an elbow as Shelton Martis headed against the crossbar.
Gill might politely point out that it's hard for him to be an FA man when his full-time employers are feeling so hard done by.
WHY do all the drivers who get clamped and fined feel they are being hard done by and victimised?
He felt hard done by at Upton Park and said: "It was an over-reaction from the goalkeeper.
County felt hard done by on two occasions when Guy Branston appeared to shove Jason Lee over inside the area, but referee Grant Headley waved away both claims.
Whoever wins the debate you can rest assured the losers will feel hard done by.
JOHN Towers says he is hard done by for pay and pensions, and draws comparisons with successful company bosses.
They will have felt hard done by when we got the goal and I felt the same when they equalised, because it came when we were playing our best stuff.
Archer, 62, serving four years for perjury, is still convinced he was hard done by.
Dorrington said, ``I am gutted, I just feel hard done by. This is not justice.''
"They're p***d off really and feel that I've been hard done by.
I have a relative who works for Royal Mail and from his comments they are far from being hard done by, especially at this time of the year when the overtime payments are at a maximum.
The players feel hard done by and they are very disappointed."