battered

adjective

bat·​tered ˈba-tərd 

1

: damaged or worn down by hard use

a battered old hat

a battered truck

2

: injured by repeated blows

the victim's battered body

a boxer's battered face

3

: subjected to repeated physical abuse

providing help for battered wives/children

… the store turned into an impromptu women's crisis center, where battered women and mothers trying to rescue their daughters from abusive dads gravitated.

—Donna Minkowitz

Examples of battered in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Although the reporter speaks of him in the past tense, a battered Korda emerges on camera. —Andre Gee, Rolling Stone, 7 Apr. 2025

The duo later began the TriBeCa Film Festival in 2002 to help New Yorkers reclaim their battered neighborhood after 9/11. —Samantha Bergeson, IndieWire, 7 Apr. 2025

For battered commercial broadcasters, who have been weathering an ongoing TV ad market storm since the pandemic, this sounds like pretty grim news. —Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 4 Apr. 2025

Consumers worry that the duties will cause inflation to flare up again, while investors fear that higher prices will mean lower profits and more pain for the battered stock market. —Jessica Dickler, CNBC, 3 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1593, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing battered

• battered child syndrome
• battered woman syndrome

Rhymes for battered

• backscattered
• chattered
• clattered
• flattered
• mattered
• pattered
• scattered
• shattered
• spattered
• splattered
• tattered