as in to abuse
to inflict physical or emotional harm upon
the foster parent who had been mistreating his charges was sent to jail
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of mistreat
Both Kansas City officials and KC Pet Project agree that the city’s current chapter on animal control in the city code has flaws that impede the ability of animal-control officers to go onto private property without permission to impound vicious dogs and animals that are being mistreated.
—
Mike Hendricks, Kansas City Star, 5 Mar. 2025
As seen through Leite’s hedonistic sensibilities, Brazil’s red-light districts vibrated with intoxicating samba and bohemian camaraderie; shrewd madams kept the police at bay, and clients did not dare mistreat the women.
—Foreign Affairs, 25 Feb. 2025
For many women, particularly those who have been mistreated and disrespected by the men in their lives, Paquita gave them a voice to dress down a man who deserved their righteous ire.
—Alex Zaragoza, Los Angeles Times, 21 Feb. 2025
The lead performances are broad but engaging, with Chow excelling as the mouthpiece for a community that has been exploited, marginalized and mistreated for decades.
—James Marsh, Deadline, 31 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mistreat
Mike Hendricks, Kansas City Star, 5 Mar. 2025
As seen through Leite’s hedonistic sensibilities, Brazil’s red-light districts vibrated with intoxicating samba and bohemian camaraderie; shrewd madams kept the police at bay, and clients did not dare mistreat the women.
—Foreign Affairs, 25 Feb. 2025
For many women, particularly those who have been mistreated and disrespected by the men in their lives, Paquita gave them a voice to dress down a man who deserved their righteous ire.
—Alex Zaragoza, Los Angeles Times, 21 Feb. 2025
The lead performances are broad but engaging, with Chow excelling as the mouthpiece for a community that has been exploited, marginalized and mistreated for decades.
—James Marsh, Deadline, 31 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mistreat
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mistreat
Verb
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Authorities subsequently found that the boy and Ruby's 10-year-old daughter had been seriously abused.—
Liam Quinn,
People.com,
28 Mar. 2025
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In May 2023, Attorney General Kwame Raoul published a 696-page report, which found that over about seven decades, at least 1,997 children have been abused by 451 Catholic clerics and religious brothers across the state’s dioceses.—
Natalie Demaree,
Miami Herald,
27 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Related article China vows to counter Trump’s ‘bullying’ tariffs as global trade war escalates Another Australian territory targeted by tariffs is the Cocos Islands.—
Brad Lendon,
CNN Money,
3 Apr. 2025
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While playing games and roaming through the attractions, the children are bullied by locals as well as carnival employees.—
Chris Gardner,
HollywoodReporter,
2 Apr. 2025
Verb
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First, students are primed through exposure to narratives that depict a binary world of oppressors and oppressed.—
Kevin Waldman,
Chicago Tribune,
3 Apr. 2025
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Remember Mandela, who rose from the ashes of prison to become the president of South Africa, a country that had oppressed him and his people for decades.—
Bea L. Hines,
Miami Herald,
28 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Mistreat.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mistreat. Accessed 13 Apr. 2025.
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