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manhandled

verb

past tense of manhandle
1
as in abused
to abuse physically charges that the police manhandled peaceful protesters

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in bullied
to inflict physical or emotional harm upon if you see anyone manhandling a child, you should call the authorities

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of manhandled He was brought to the prison infirmary, where numerous guards surrounded, punched, kicked, choked, dropped and manhandled him. — Colin Mixson, New York Daily News, 19 Sep. 2026 Not only did the offense look poor against the New York Jets on Sunday but the defensive line got manhandled by the Jets offensive line. — Austin Mock, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2026 Valley View won its first game but was manhandled by Searcy last week. — Arkansas Online, 9 Sep. 2026 New England lost in demoralizing fashion to the Seahawks last February, 29-13, as the Seattle defense manhandled the Patriots’ offense. — Lance Reynolds, Boston Herald, 20 Aug. 2026 Those ramped up after Ottawa was completely manhandled by the Canes, and never held the lead at any point in the series. — Matt Reigle Outkick, FOXNews.com, 29 Apr. 2026 Then, the family says two others broke through a small window, manhandled their dogs and stole priceless mementos handed down through their family over generations, along with the cash. — Nicole Comstock, CBS News, 18 Apr. 2026 Did something get squashed en route, then manhandled by Kennedy? — Erin Vanderhoof, Vanity Fair, 16 Apr. 2026 Stella was torn between getting it right and being manhandled by Meredith. — Literary Hub, 13 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for manhandled
  1. abused
  2. bullied
  3. attacked
  4. tortured
  5. mauled
  6. ambushed
  7. maltreated
  8. mishandled
Verb
  • The gathering of seven survivors includes one who was an adult when abused, a recognition of the new frontier of the abuse crisis facing the church.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 21 Sep. 2026
  • Throughout the season, the show jumps back and forth from Lizzie’s story to the 1990s, where serial killer Aileen Wuornos (Sarah Paulson) is on the run after murdering a series of men who abused her.
    — Keith Langston, PEOPLE, 19 Sep. 2026
Definition of abused
Verb
  • His descriptions of being bullied in high school for his sexuality resemble plotlines from Very Special Episodes of TV, and his relationship with his ailing father is similarly generic.
    — Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 23 Sep. 2026
  • Yes, Stark has painted, or, more accurately, anodized, powder-coated, and otherwise bullied into submission just about everything to black.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of bullied
Verb
  • Six of the gunmen were killed, according to police, who said one suicide bomber attacked the nearby office of an intelligence agency.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 19 Sep. 2026
  • When a wealthy, royal woman is attacked by bandits, the two men save her and are welcomed to the castle as valiant knights.
    — Jourdain Searles, HollywoodReporter, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of attacked
Verb
  • Two students who had been visiting the palace, Eduardo Matson Ospino and Yolanda Ernestina Santodomingo, were allegedly classified as especiales, taken to a military facility, blindfolded, interrogated, tortured and threatened with execution.
    — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 18 Sep. 2026
  • Prosecutors say Alsheikh, seeking to quash political dissent, sent certain prisoners to a wing of Adra where they were held in small isolation cells and tortured.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of tortured
Verb
  • When his grandfather was mauled by a leopard caught in a trap set for an impala, however, Mgesi began to feel that the dangers of hunting wildlife outweighed its benefits for humans.
    — Juliet Kinsman, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Sep. 2026
  • The native dogs are known to have killed baby Azaria Chamberlain, who was taken in the outback in 1980, and mauled Canadian tourist Piper James, who died on K’Gari off the coast of Queensland earlier this year.
    — Hilary Whiteman, CNN Money, 20 Sep. 2026
Definition of mauled
Verb
  • The four men had arrived at the pre-arranged location to meet a woman and were ambushed by several men with assault rifles who fired into the vehicle, striking the front seat passenger, according to local police.
    — Karma Sabbah, CBS News, 17 Sep. 2026
  • The same 1-2 punch that ambushed Cambridge with 52 points in the Dave Hunter + Corky Kell Classic beat South Gwinnett on Friday 55-20.
    — Jack Leo, AJC.com, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of ambushed
Verb
  • Canadian researchers found that older adults who were maltreated as children may face a significantly higher risk of cancer decades later.
    — Rob Williams, EverydayHealth.com, 22 Apr. 2026
  • The Adams County Health and Human Services Department’s initial assessment indicated that the infant was maltreated, though a final autopsy report is still pending, TMZ reported.
    — Theresa Braine, New York Daily News, 9 Mar. 2026
Definition of maltreated
Verb
  • The Michigan Supreme Court has ordered the state Court of Appeals to take another look at the life sentence given to Ethan Crumbley, the Oxford High School shooter, including whether his trial attorneys mishandled a defense expert's testimony.
    — Paula Wethington, CBS News, 18 Sep. 2026
  • Woods mishandled at least 1,045 criminal cases during her 29-year career as a DNA analyst at the CBI.
    — Shelly Bradbury, Denver Post, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of mishandled

Browse Nearby Words

manhandle
manhandled
manhandles
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Cite this Entry

“Manhandled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/manhandled. Accessed 26 Sep. 2026.

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