exploited
Used for gain
Exploited describes something or someone that has been used, often unfairly or selfishly.
An exploited worker is taken advantage of—underpaid or overworked for someone else's gain.
Exploited resources have been extracted or depleted: The region's oil reserves were heavily exploited.
The word carries connotations of imbalance: one party benefits while another bears the cost.
Traded illegally
- abusedTreated harmfully or wrongly
- vulnerableOpen to attack
- powerlessLacking strength or authority
- helplessUnable to act independently
coerced · survivor · trauma · dehumanized · marginalized · voiceless · defenseless · predatory
Brought under control
- colonizedEstablished foreign control over
- enslavedMade someone's property
- oppressedTreated with cruel control
- dominatedControlled or overpowered
disenfranchised · dispossessed · imperialism · colonialism · serfdom · peonage · apartheid · caste
Removed from source
- minedExtracted from the ground
- harvestedGathered ripe crops
- depletedSeverely reduced or emptied
- strippedHad coverings removed
logged · overfished · drilled · fracked · clear-cut · deforested · exhausted · plundered
Employed for advantage
- harnessedControlled and directed
- capitalizedMade the first letter big
- tappedStruck gently or selected
- maximizedIncreased to greatest extent
monetized · commercialized · optimized · utilized · employed · applied · activated · advantaged
Laboring beyond healthy limits
- underpaidGiven inadequate wages
- sweatshopExploitative manufacturing workplace
- overtimeWork beyond scheduled hours
- burnoutChronic occupational depletion
exhaustion · drudgery · toil · grueling · understaffed · overburdened · harried · strained
Unfair distribution or treatment
- disparityMeasurable difference between things
- injusticeDenial of fair treatment
- imbalanceLack of proportion
- asymmetryAbsence of balanced form
one-sided · rigged · stacked · unequal · bias · favoritism · double-standard · unscrupulous
trafficked
Traded illegally
- abusedTreated harmfully or wrongly
- vulnerableOpen to attack
- powerlessLacking strength or authority
helpless · coerced · survivor · trauma · dehumanized · marginalized · voiceless · defenseless · predatory · groomed
subjugated
Brought under control
- colonizedEstablished foreign control over
- enslavedMade someone's property
- oppressedTreated with cruel control
dominated · disenfranchised · dispossessed · imperialism · colonialism · serfdom · peonage · apartheid · caste · hegemony
extracted
Removed from source
stripped · logged · overfished · drilled · fracked · clear-cut · deforested · exhausted · plundered · commodified
leveraged
Employed for advantage
- harnessedControlled and directed
- capitalizedMade the first letter big
- tappedStruck gently or selected
maximized · monetized · commercialized · optimized · utilized · employed · applied · activated · advantaged · strategic
overworked
Laboring beyond healthy limits
- underpaidGiven inadequate wages
- sweatshopExploitative manufacturing workplace
- overtimeWork beyond scheduled hours
burnout · exhaustion · drudgery · toil · grueling · understaffed · overburdened · harried · strained · laborious
inequity
Unfair distribution or treatment
- disparityMeasurable difference between things
- injusticeDenial of fair treatment
- imbalanceLack of proportion
asymmetry · one-sided · rigged · stacked · unequal · bias · favoritism · double-standard · unscrupulous · profiteering
- unfairnessunfair, unjust, biased, unequal, inequitable
- Vulnerable Groupshomeless youth, orphans, refugees, disabled people, elderly poor
- wrongedabused, mistreated, victimized, oppressed, bullied
- underclasspoor, pauper, peasant, homeless, serf
- trope treatmentssubversion, inversion, deconstruction, averted, deconstructed
- dupeddeceived, tricked, fooled, conned, swindled
exploitedprotected
Kept from harm
respected · valued · cherished · empowered · safeguarded
exploitedunexploited
Not yet put to use
untapped · unused · undeveloped · fallow · virgin
exploitedempowered
Given power to act
liberated · autonomous · self-determined · free · independent
- worker exploitationMistreating employees for profit
- commercial exploitationProfiting from a resource
- heroic exploitsCourageous notable achievements
- labor exploitationUnfair treatment of workers
- child exploitationHarmful use of minors
- exploitation filmSensational low-budget movie genre
exploit, exploitation, exploits, exploitable, exploiter, exploiting, exploitative, exploiters, unexploited