1
as in to abuse
to inflict physical or emotional harm upon
having been shuffled from foster home to foster home, the orphaned girl felt she had been mishandled by an uncaring society
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to manhandle
to abuse physically
adopted a sadly mishandled puppy from the pound
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in to mismanage
to manage badly
we took over as soon as we realized that the fill-in had been mishandling the situation
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of mishandle
Federal officials also denied Minnesota state investigators access to the shooting scene in south Minneapolis, prompting local and state officials to accuse the Homeland Security agency of mishandling evidence.
—
National Correspondent, Los Angeles Times, 28 Jan. 2026
However, your friends are blaming you for asking valid questions of someone who is mishandling funds and directly impacting your quality of life.
—R. Eric Thomas, Mercury News, 28 Jan. 2026
The families have filed a lawsuit against The Joshua School, alleging that school officials mishandled their concerns and never reported suspicions of abuse to outside authorities, enabling the monitor’s abuse.
—Shelly Bradbury, Denver Post, 23 Jan. 2026
That decision made clear to us that minimizing liability mattered more than accountability for an antisemitic act and examining how school leadership handled – and then mishandled – what occurred.
—Marsha Sutton, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for mishandle
National Correspondent, Los Angeles Times, 28 Jan. 2026
However, your friends are blaming you for asking valid questions of someone who is mishandling funds and directly impacting your quality of life.
—R. Eric Thomas, Mercury News, 28 Jan. 2026
The families have filed a lawsuit against The Joshua School, alleging that school officials mishandled their concerns and never reported suspicions of abuse to outside authorities, enabling the monitor’s abuse.
—Shelly Bradbury, Denver Post, 23 Jan. 2026
That decision made clear to us that minimizing liability mattered more than accountability for an antisemitic act and examining how school leadership handled – and then mishandled – what occurred.
—Marsha Sutton, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for mishandle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mishandle
Verb
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Videos and photos seized from Epstein's homes in New York, Florida and the Virgin Islands didn't depict victims being abused or implicate anyone else in his crimes, a prosecutor wrote in one 2025 memo.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
9 Feb. 2026
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At least two women who were prostituted and abused by Epstein and his clients had Colorado connections.—
Noelle Phillips,
Denver Post,
8 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Making the scene even more a spectacle was the fact that Yam Yam was literally being manhandled and dragged out of the castle while doing so.—
Dalton Ross,
Entertainment Weekly,
30 Jan. 2026
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After his holstered gun was discovered under his coat and removed while he was being manhandled, he was executed on the spot by one of the officers despite lying unarmed and defenseless on the ground.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
27 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The power grid— privatized, mismanaged, and politically entangled—fails with alarming regularity.—
Israel Melendez Ayala,
Time,
30 Jan. 2026
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Her ability to mismanage several things at once is truly remarkable.—
John Phillips,
Oc Register,
20 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The Rafah border crossing, meant to support the ceasefire, has seen minimal passage and reports of Palestinians being interrogated and mistreated.—
Wafaa Shurafa,
Los Angeles Times,
4 Feb. 2026
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Many Cuban Americans were mistreated and would probably like to return.—
Moriah Thomas,
CNN Money,
30 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The family’s oldest child was once forced to watch her cat be mauled to death by feral dogs after she was caught taking food out of the pantry without permission.—
Stephanie Kaloi,
PEOPLE,
4 Feb. 2026
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The fate of the man who left a 5-year-old girl to be mauled to death by alligators in the Everglades after trying to kill her mother is about to be in the hands of a Miami jury.—
Grethel Aguila,
Miami Herald,
29 Jan. 2026
Verb
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In 2021, the mother of one of Asher Vann’s friends accused him of bullying her son and began a social media campaign against him.—
Jane Harper,
Dallas Morning News,
7 Feb. 2026
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The young boy then has to navigate being 10 and being bullied, having crushes on girls, all while older siblings Yvette (Essence Atkins) and Marcus (Jason Weaver) cringe at the thought of him being at the same high school.—
Stephanie Sengwe,
PEOPLE,
4 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Mobs attacked television vans and set cars ablaze as overrun hospitals struggled to cope with scores of injured people.—
Rhea Mogul,
CNN Money,
6 Feb. 2026
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The complication is not well understood but appears to be the result of the virus prompting the immune system to attack a certain protein that some brain cells produce.—
Meghan Bartels,
Scientific American,
5 Feb. 2026
Verb
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In some cases, UNIFIL vehicles were damaged.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
8 Feb. 2026
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During media interviews after Sunday’s win, Johnson revealed that her gold medal was already damaged.—
Rachel Roberts,
Idaho Statesman,
8 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Mishandle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mishandle. Accessed 11 Feb. 2026.
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