1
as in abuses
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
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in manhandles
to abuse physically
adopted a sadly mishandled puppy from the pound
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in mismanages
to manage badly
we took over as soon as we realized that the fill-in had been mishandling the situation
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mishandles
Verb
-
But outside of the ring, Christy hides and represses her lesbianism and winds up marrying her trainer Jim Martin (Ben Foster), who manipulates and physically abuses her.—
Edward Segarra,
USA Today,
13 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Victor’s own father is obsessed with legacy and perfection and mistreats his boy, and that cycle continues with Victor and the Creature.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
10 Sep. 2025
-
Mihály is a brute who mistreats his mother.—
Adam Solomons,
IndieWire,
28 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
Since Missouri vanity plates have to follow the state obscenity law, a court would need to find that the state law violates the First Amendment.—
Eleanor Nash,
Kansas City Star,
10 Sep. 2025
-
Further, the letter warned that Unwrapped violates Spotify's developer policy, which bans using the Spotify platform or any Spotify content to build machine learning or AI models.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
10 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Even as Russia attacks power plants, grids, and neighborhoods, Ukraine’s energy system has endured and adapted, becoming a decentralized network that keeps homes lit, factories running, and morale intact.—
Ken Silverstein,
Forbes.com,
11 Sep. 2025
-
Meanwhile, on the opposite side, Eze attacks the space vertically — rather than diagonally behind the centre-backs — to be in Pedro Porro’s blindside as Munoz is carrying the ball forward.—
Ahmed Walid,
New York Times,
11 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
This interaction damages skin cells and can trigger irritation, redness, stinging or burning.—
Leslie Baumann,
Miami Herald,
4 Sep. 2025
-
If the power outage is specific to your home, say a lightning strike damages your electrical system, things change.—
Kristine Gill,
Better Homes & Gardens,
3 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
If a dog that has not been officially declared dangerous severely injures or kills a person when unprovoked, authorities may confiscate the dog, and the dog’s owner is liable for the incident.—
Amanda Rosa,
Miami Herald,
8 Sep. 2025
-
This is an inflammatory condition in which swelling injures the optic nerve, disrupting the transmission of visual information from the eye to the brain.—
Lucy Notarantonio,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 Aug. 2025
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.
Cite this Entry
“Mishandles.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mishandles. Accessed 16 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share