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
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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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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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The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office said Kayode Agbolade Ogunba allegedly abused patients at a local care home.—
Matthew Rodriguez,
CBS News,
27 Jan. 2026
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The victim-survivor in this case was not the only child Weberman abused.—
Guila Benchimol,
New York Daily News,
26 Jan. 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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Many Cuban Americans were mistreated and would probably like to return.—
Moriah Thomas,
CNN Money,
30 Jan. 2026
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Students who are mistreated by their schools — including victims and accused students alike — have few other venues to pursue justice.—
Collin Binkley,
Los Angeles Times,
27 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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Movies like Mean Girls, Wonder, and The Karate Kid offer powerful ways to help kids recognize bullying and build empathy.—
Lauren Brown West-Rosenthal,
Parents,
1 Feb. 2026
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Wilkerson treated him like a traffic cone, blowing by and bullying him for baskets.—
Aaron Heisen,
Daily News,
1 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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Regarding the third issue, cracking indicates the spark plug is damaged beyond repair and must be replaced.—
David Beaulieu,
The Spruce,
1 Feb. 2026
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His own home was seriously damaged in the fire, forcing him to live elsewhere for the past year, and his mother-in-law’s home was destroyed.—
Richard Winton,
Los Angeles Times,
31 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Mishandle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mishandle. Accessed 9 Feb. 2026.
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