Crossword Genius

Badly sullied? (3-4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

ill-used

'badly sullied?' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are past participle verbs, I can't see how one could define the other.

'badly sullied?' is the wordplay.
'badly' is an anagram indicator.
'sullied' is an anagram of 'ILL-USED'.

(Other definitions for ill-used that I've seen before include "Mistreated" , "Maltreated" , "Badly treated, exploited" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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