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roughed (up)

verb

past tense of rough (up)
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)
  1. licked
  2. abused
  3. pounded
  4. attacked
  5. lashed
  6. manhandled
  7. whipped
  8. ambushed
Verb
  • Tuxedo kitten Paolina bounced onto my chest and licked my fingers.
    — Solvej Schou, Los Angeles Times, 10 Aug. 2026
  • Her entire face got licked clean off her head when suburban floodwaters breached the cardboard hull protecting Kath’s basement memorabilia stack a few months before I was born.
    — Claire Carusillo, Harpers Magazine, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of licked
Verb
  • The gathering of seven survivors includes one who was an adult when abused, a recognition of the new frontier of the abuse crisis facing the church.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 21 Sep. 2026
  • Throughout the season, the show jumps back and forth from Lizzie’s story to the 1990s, where serial killer Aileen Wuornos (Sarah Paulson) is on the run after murdering a series of men who abused her.
    — Keith Langston, PEOPLE, 19 Sep. 2026
Definition of abused
Verb
  • The chicken is pounded thin before cooking and, at Le Flâneur, is served with Picholine olives, tomato, arugula, and Parmesan.
    — Colleen McNally Arnett, Southern Living, 16 Sep. 2026
  • Russian overnight strikes also pounded western Ukraine, though there were no immediate reports of casualties.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 13 Sep. 2026
Definition of pounded
Verb
  • Six of the gunmen were killed, according to police, who said one suicide bomber attacked the nearby office of an intelligence agency.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 19 Sep. 2026
  • When a wealthy, royal woman is attacked by bandits, the two men save her and are welcomed to the castle as valiant knights.
    — Jourdain Searles, HollywoodReporter, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of attacked
Verb
  • Trump has also lashed out at individual reporters in person or over social media, sometimes in strikingly personal terms -- insulting them in briefings, or in his recent speech at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 20 Sep. 2026
  • Trump has also lashed out at individual reporters in person or over social media, sometimes in strikingly personal terms.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 19 Sep. 2026
Definition of lashed
Verb
  • He was brought to the prison infirmary, where numerous guards surrounded, punched, kicked, choked, dropped and manhandled him.
    — Colin Mixson, New York Daily News, 19 Sep. 2026
  • Not only did the offense look poor against the New York Jets on Sunday but the defensive line got manhandled by the Jets offensive line.
    — Austin Mock, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of manhandled
Verb
  • After learning that Manchester whipped Maggie with a cat-o’-nine-tails, Lizzie agrees to help the Borden family’s maid kill her.
    — Samantha Stutsman, PEOPLE, 18 Sep. 2026
  • That sort of whipped, inswinging ball from Slater that caused so much havoc is hugely familiar to avid Premier League watchers.
    — Conor O'Neill, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of whipped
Verb
  • The four men had arrived at the pre-arranged location to meet a woman and were ambushed by several men with assault rifles who fired into the vehicle, striking the front seat passenger, according to local police.
    — Karma Sabbah, CBS News, 17 Sep. 2026
  • The same 1-2 punch that ambushed Cambridge with 52 points in the Dave Hunter + Corky Kell Classic beat South Gwinnett on Friday 55-20.
    — Jack Leo, AJC.com, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of ambushed
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

roughed it
roughed (up)
roughen
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Roughed (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/roughed%20%28up%29. Accessed 25 Sep. 2026.

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