raw deal

noun

A situation in which a person is taken advantage of or treated unfairly; a situation in which a person is led to expect something, but receives either nothing or much less than was expected.

Similar
bum dealrum deal
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Meanings

nounraw deal (plural raw deals)

plural raw deals

  1. idiomaticA situation in which a person is taken advantage of or treated unfairly; a situation in which a person is led to expect something, but receives either nothing or much less than was expected.

    The night Santa went crazy The night St. Nick went insane Realized he'd been gettin' a raw deal Something finally must have snapped in his brain

    1996, "Weird Al" Yankovic, “The Night Santa Went Crazy”, in Bad Hair Day

    Synonyms: bum deal, rum deal

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA situation in which a person is taken advantage of or treated unfairly; a situation in which a person is led to expect something, but receives either nothing or much less than was expected.

Similar
bum dealrum deal
Also see
bum dealrum dealshort end of the stick
Cite this entry
APA

raw deal. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/raw%20deal

MLA

“raw deal.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/raw%20deal. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “raw deal,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/raw%20deal.

Source: raw deal on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.