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> 威嚇のつもりかアサルトライフルを抱えた兵を二人も従えて、いかにも **軍服に着られた**
> 貧相な士官が顎をしゃくる。どうでもいいが、後ろの兵のライフルは安全装置がかかったままで、しかも初弾が装塡されていない。それぞれの立ち位置も近すぎるから、やろうと思えば撃たせる前に全員制圧できる。意味がないのでやらないが。

86─エイティシックス─

安里アサト

Why is the bold part passive form? How can you be worn by uniform?
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2022-04-28T15:01:45.430
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question
grammar nuances set-phrases passive-voice idioms
Understanding 軍服に着られた
It is a rhetorical use of passive voice. 服に着られる basically means the person in
the clothes gives a funny impression, e.g. the size is too big, it simply does
not go well, etc.

(Added) It is less common than the two below, but e.g. 制服に着られている is typically
used for a boy who entered junior high school ( ≒ 13 years old), for which it
is first required to wear uniforms (near Tokyo). It means the uniform does not
fit the boy, not just physically but also in the sense that the overall
impression does not feel right somehow.

There are not many verbs that are used in this way, but two other typical
cases are:

  * （酒を）飲む/（酒に）飲まれる

酒は飲んでも飲まれるな is a common phrase which literally means _even if you drink
alcohol, don't be drunken by it_. Possibly this makes some sense in English as
well. Basically it means _it's ok to drink, but not too much_.

  * 金を使う/金に使われる

This is even more literal. The latter means _to be used by money_ , which
basically means that someone is worried too much about money and sort of
manipulated by money itself.

So the basic connotation of this kind of passive is that the person does not
have control over the object (服, 酒, 金) which s/he should have.
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answer