1
as in licked
to strike repeatedly
she was badly roughed up by her boxing partner
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in abused
to abuse physically
the photographer claimed that he had been roughed up by the actor's bodyguards outside the club
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for roughed (up)
Verb
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In the filing, the three dancers claimed they were abused, harassed, discriminated against and faced numerous workplace violations while working for the Grammy winner and her Big Grrrl Big Touring Inc.—
Nicholas Rice,
People.com,
13 Apr. 2025 -
In court, Doe testified that Soulja Boy raped her multiple times and regularly abused her physically.—
Matthew Strauss,
Pitchfork,
10 Apr. 2025
Verb
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A day earlier, Michigan's Upper Peninsula was pounded by heavy snow and high winds gusting up to 50 mph resulting in blizzard conditions and whiteouts.—
Christopher Cann,
USA TODAY,
6 Mar. 2025
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The Orioles pounded the Red Sox on Monday without any of their starters, relying on hard-throwing prospect Zach Fruit and a slew of youngsters.—
Jacob Calvin Meyer,
Baltimore Sun,
17 Mar. 2025
Verb
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The Spartans’ top-five defense slowed New Mexico’s blistering pace and attacked the paint on the opposite end.—
Justin Williams,
The Athletic,
24 Mar. 2025
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As the graph below shows, Bournemouth have primarily attacked down their left flank this season, with the axis between Dean Huijsen at left centre-back, wing-back Kerkez and winger Antoine Semenyo proving crucial.—
Carl Anka,
The Athletic,
24 Mar. 2025
Verb
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In at least four of the heists, the thieves threatened their victim with a gun; one victim was pistol whipped, cops said.—
Roni Jacobson,
New York Daily News,
23 Dec. 2024
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At the final whistle, James ran onto the field and whipped a towel through the air.—
Thuc Nhi Nguyen,
Los Angeles Times,
20 Dec. 2024
Verb
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Police say Perez, 21, was ambushed and shot twice by Ragan in the stairwell of a Motel Seven.—
Charles Rabin,
Miami Herald,
31 Mar. 2025
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Once a Brink’s driver exited an armored vehicle to deliver money to a business, prosecutors said robbers ambushed them, with testimony in the case later revealing that the conspirators used assault rifles to carry out their robberies.—
Krystal Nurse,
USA Today,
27 Mar. 2025
Verb
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In the semis, Parenteau turned back the clock and played a solid game to beat Buckner and return to the final for the first time in nearly a year.—
Todd Boss,
Forbes.com,
23 June 2025
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Almost daily, the news has stories and videos of people being robbed or beaten in Baltimore, shot and killed, or simply being harassed.—
Reader Commentary,
Baltimore Sun,
23 June 2025
Verb
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None of the pages jammed inside the mechanism, was visibly skewed, or was otherwise mishandled.—
David English,
PCMAG,
9 Mar. 2025
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From the department that handled and sometimes mishandled the fatal Rust shooting almost four years ago, the process around the Hackmans has seen information come out sometimes in dribs and drabs.—
Dominic Patten,
Deadline,
7 Mar. 2025
Verb
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By one estimate, a single square meter of ground may be pelted with 100 million bacteria during every hour of a rainstorm.—
Carl Zimmer,
Smithsonian Magazine,
25 Feb. 2025
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Pico and others have pelted the PFL with criticism.—
Brian Mazique,
Forbes,
20 Feb. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Roughed (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/roughed%20%28up%29. Accessed 1 Jul. 2025.
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