MOLESTED Synonyms: 46 Similar and Opposite Words

molested

verb

past tense of molest

as in violated

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for molested

Verb

League officials said the Clippers violated salary cap rules by initiating off-court income opportunities and facilitating endorsement agreements for Kawhi Leonard, who was also fined $700,000.

— Ashley Mowreader, NBC news, 5 Sep. 2026
Editor-in-chief Erik Slavin, publisher Max Lederer, and reporter Lara Korte at Stars and Stripes – a military news outlet that is partially funded by the Pentagon – claimed their dismissals were retaliatory and violated the First Amendment.

— Miles J. Herszenhorn, USA Today, 5 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

To the casual YouTube viewer, these would look like unconnected videos from political news creators outraged by events happening in cities led by Democrats.

— Max Tani, semafor.com, 2 Sep. 2026
When police officers in Oklahoma admitted to using electro-shock gloves to subdue two students over the 2025-2026 school year, the community was rightfully outraged.

— Joe Wilkins, Futurism, 27 Aug. 2026

Definition of outraged

Verb

So much about the two circumstances is different, many of them instituted by Key because of losses like the one to Pitt (though that makes getting bullied by Colorado only more perplexing).

— Ken Sugiura, AJC.com, 9 Sep. 2026
Elon was often bullied at school, Errol describes, and once his son was beaten so badly his face was unrecognizable.

— Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 8 Sep. 2026

Definition of bullied

Verb

Instead, Keefe was soon pulled over by Milton police who said the employee had called 911 to report that he was being followed and harassed.

— Irene Wright, USA Today, 9 Sep. 2026
The haters have hacked the store’s website, harassed its hosts, spread rumors about its owner, and threatened to show up in force in front of its physical store.

— Iris Kwok, Los Angeles Times, 4 Sep. 2026

Definition of harassed

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

Canadian researchers found that older adults who were maltreated as children may face a significantly higher risk of cancer decades later.

— Rob Williams, EverydayHealth.com, 22 Apr. 2026
The Adams County Health and Human Services Department’s initial assessment indicated that the infant was maltreated, though a final autopsy report is still pending, TMZ reported.

— Theresa Braine, New York Daily News, 9 Mar. 2026

Definition of maltreated

Verb

Allegations of abuse, inmates being brutalized by jailers, and dire conditions have plagued the facility for years, leading some county leaders, former sheriffs and civil rights advocates to call for the jail to be closed.

— James Queally, Los Angeles Times, 9 Sep. 2026
Because they’ve been brutalized by the same machinery of repression.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 2 Sep. 2026

Definition of brutalized

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.

Browse Nearby Words

molestations

molested

molester

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Molested.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/molested. Accessed 16 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of molested

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

facsimile

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Popular in Wordplay

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Popular

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Games & Quizzes