mistreat

verb

mis·​treat ˌmis-ˈtrēt 

mistreated; mistreating; mistreats

transitive verb

: to treat badly : abuse

mistreatment

ˌmis-ˈtrēt-mənt 

noun

Synonyms of mistreat

• abuse
• bully
• oppress

Examples of mistreat in a Sentence

They accuse him of mistreating his wife.

She claimed she had been mistreated by the police.

Recent Examples on the Web

But the suits allege that while these three students were at the school, staff did not protect them or prevent them from being mistreated. — Laura Bauer, Kansas City Star, 24 July 2026

In June, Hilton returned to the Provo Canyon School to support two families who filed lawsuits alleging that their children were mistreated at the school. — ABC News, 17 July 2026

This is not the only group of women who’ve been mistreated and not listened to. — Jackson Thompson, FOXNews.com, 17 July 2026

At the end, Morrison made the boy apologize to his classmates for mistreating them. — Jennifer Smith Richards, ProPublica, 15 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for mistreat

• amit
• athlete
• backseat
• blackfeet
• broadsheet
• browbeat
• buckwheat
• compete
• compleat
• complete
• conceit
• concrete

Kids Definition

mistreat

verb

mis·​treat (ˈ)mis-ˈtrēt 

: to treat badly : abuse

mistreatment

-mənt 

noun