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mishandled

verb

past tense of mishandle
1
as in abused
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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2
as in attacked
to abuse physically adopted a sadly mishandled puppy from the pound

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3
as in mismanaged
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

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 mishandled According to The Athletic, attorney Rob Carey is representing his family and said the university mishandled the investigation into his medical emergency. — Natasha Dye, PEOPLE, 1 Sep. 2026 Over his two-hour closing, Sanft claimed that the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department mishandled the search for the Cadillac, allowed unauthorized people to access the case file, and lost police reports during a technology upgrade. — Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 31 Aug. 2026 Merrill walked and Bogaerts singled to start the fifth inning, and the Padres loaded the bases when Mateo mishandled Austin Hays’ grounder to second. — Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Aug. 2026 The punter mishandled the snap, and the Seminoles get the ball at Lake Howell’s 14 yard line. — Buddy Collings, The Orlando Sentinel, 28 Aug. 2026 The Brewers got the leadoff batter on when Atlanta pitcher Martín Pérez (8-8) mishandled a dribbler from Cooper Pratt, who beat the throw to first. — ABC News, 22 Aug. 2026 Raman, on the other hand, said Bass mishandled the city’s response to SB 79, even as the city failed to produce enough new homes. — Los Angeles Times, 20 Aug. 2026 Said alleges that the companies later mishandled her requests for medical accommodations following an assignment covering the 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. — Lexi Carson, HollywoodReporter, 15 Aug. 2026 She has reportedly been found to have mishandled evidence on as many as 20 separate occasions. — Sean Joseph Outkick, FOXNews.com, 12 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mishandled
  1. abused
  2. attacked
  3. damaged
  4. bullied
  5. manhandled
  6. violated
  7. mistreated
  8. mauled
Verb
  • That body, established in 2017 in response to the crimes of Larry Nassar, the Michigan physician who serially abused young gymnasts, can investigate misconduct, including nonsexual misconduct, in any Olympic sport.
    — Ian Parker, New Yorker, 14 Sep. 2026
  • Two other people claimed to have been abused by the artist during their childhood, according to Libération, but are also not included in the case headed to trial because the incidents took place too far in the past.
    — Devorah Lauter, ARTnews.com, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of abused
Verb
  • On her second set point chance, Sabalenka attacked hard down the middle.
    — Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026
  • Fresh off a recent campaign visit to Michigan, Vance above all aimed at Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Michigan, who the vice president has attacked aggressively for invoking his wife, Usha Vance, on the campaign trail.
    — Joey Garrison, USA Today, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of attacked
Verb
  • After greeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the US envoy was taken on a tour of a cathedral in central Kyiv damaged in Russian attacks.
    — Sophie Tanno, CNN Money, 6 Sep. 2026
  • The second one came out of the printer damaged, with a big scratch on it.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 6 Sep. 2026
Definition of damaged
Verb
  • 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
  • Newcastle were not only beaten, but they were also bullied and battered into submission — physically overpowered and outplayed in every facet.
    — Chris Waugh, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of bullied
Verb
  • The Falcons’ veteran offensive line was manhandled by Pittsburgh’s front seven.
    — Josh Kendall, New York Times, 13 Sep. 2026
  • Valley View won its first game but was manhandled by Searcy last week.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of manhandled
Verb
  • Hundreds of those grants were later reinstated when a federal judge ruled that the slap-dash nature of the terminations violated the Administrative Procedures Act, which regulates how agencies are supposed to change policies.
    — Anil Oza, STAT, 17 Sep. 2026
  • Marc Ellinger, an attorney for the two Republican lawmakers, has argued that switching congressional maps between the primary and general elections violated federal law.
    — Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of violated
Verb
  • The other has been dismissed or mistreated in a clinic before, and reads the same sentence as confirmation that they were not told the whole story the first time.
    — Aleeza Gerstein, The Conversation, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Creative labor certainly seems to be disappearing as studios experiment with generative AI, and artists and craftspeople are rightly afraid of being further mistreated, devalued, or replaced.
    — Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of mistreated
Verb
  • Lug a bulky, awkward, bear-proof canister to store your food so you don’t get mauled.
    — Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times, 4 Sep. 2026
  • And statistically, your chances of getting jumped and mauled by a bear are so low compared to any other real danger in the backcountry.
    — Alex Robinson, Outdoor Life, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of mauled

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Cite this Entry

“Mishandled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mishandled. Accessed 19 Sep. 2026.

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