mishandle

1 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 of mishandle brutalize, bully, ill-treat, ill-use, kick around, maltreat, manhandle, mess over [slang], abuse, mistreat, misuseWords Related to mishandle molest, outrage, violate; harass, harm, hurt, injure, oppress, persecute, torment, torture; burn, sandbag, victimize, wrong; beat (up), mess (up), rough (up), work (over)Near Antonyms of mishandle care (for), cherish, foster, nurture; baby, cater (to), coddle, favor, gratify, humor, indulge, mollycoddle, pamper, spoil

2 to abuse physically adopted a sadly mishandled puppy from the pound Synonyms of mishandle maltreat, maul, manhandle, rough (up)Words Related to mishandle abuse, ill-treat, ill-use, mistreat, misuse; roughhouse, wrestle; bash, batter, beat, buffet, drub, lambaste (or lambast), lick, pommel, pound, pummel, slap, thrash; harm, hurt, injure, wound; oppress, persecute, wrong; ambush, assail, attack; clobber, fight, gang up (on), hit, jump, knock; torment, tortureNear Antonyms of mishandle caress, fondle, pet; coddle, mollycoddle, pamper; care (for), foster, nurture

3 to manage badly we took over as soon as we realized that the fill-in had been mishandling the situation Synonyms of mishandle maladminister, misconduct, misgovern, mismanage, misruleWords Related to mishandle abuse, ill-treat, ill-use, maltreat, mistreat, misuse; damage, harm, hurt, violate; botch, bungleNear Antonyms of mishandle govern, handle, husband, manage, rule; care (for), nurture; aid, help, protect, rescue