MALTREAT Synonyms: 74 Similar and Opposite Words

maltreat

verb

ˌmal-ˈtrēt

Definition of maltreat

as in to abuse

to inflict physical or emotional harm upon a manager fired for maltreating the staff with needless insults a home for children who have been deprived and maltreated

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in to attack

to abuse physically if you maltreat the puppy, we will take it away immediately

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.

Recent Examples of maltreat Dependency courts most often involve children who have been removed from parents because they were neglected, abandoned or maltreated. — Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 10 June 2026 There are bosses in companies that maltreat their workers globally. — Clare Mulroy, USA Today, 28 Apr. 2026 Many maltreating parents struggle with chronic conditions that start well before their first child and will impede their capacity to provide safe and appropriate care indefinitely. — Sarah A. Font, Chicago Tribune, 23 Apr. 2026 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 Social media can’t replace offline resources for children who are being maltreated. — Laura Schwab Reese, The Conversation, 2 Sep. 2025 One to One concert the duo organized as a response to Geraldo Rivera’s truly shocking exposé of the Willowbrook institution, where children with disabilities were horrifically maltreated and abused. — Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 29 Apr. 2025 Even the first stage of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine - on the pretext of protecting Russian speakers being maltreated - parallels Hitler’s sending shock troops into Czechoslovakia to purportedly safeguard German speakers along the Czech borderlands. — Kevin Holden Platt, Forbes, 18 Dec. 2024

Recent Examples of Synonyms for maltreat

Verb

The City Council instructed the city attorney to regulate phenibut, a drug that’s available at gas stations and being abused as a nervous system depressant.

— Sandra McDonald, Los Angeles Times, 29 Aug. 2026
Communities from Lansing, Michigan, to Pflugerville, Texas, are ending their relationship with Flock, largely over concerns regarding out-of-control surveillance, unwanted data sharing, high expenses, and reports of police abusing the tool.

— Cyrus Farivar, ArsTechnica, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of abuse

Verb

In Iran, Afghans have been attacked by mobs and baselessly accused of collaborating with Israel; some legal residents have had police tear up their documents in front of them.

— The Week US, TheWeek, 31 Aug. 2026
On Saturday, an Ebola response team was attacked on the outskirts of the town of Mambasa in Ituri province while responding to a call to secure a body.

— Constant Same Bagalwa, Los Angeles Times, 31 Aug. 2026

Definition of attack

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 mistreat

Verb

The Los Angeles Police Department released a video that shows officers at the Valley jail manhandle an uncooperative inmate who died after he was left handcuffed with a bag over his head while laying prone on the bunk in his cell.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 29 Aug. 2026
New England lost in demoralizing fashion to the Seahawks last February, 29-13, as the Seattle defense manhandled the Patriots’ offense.

— Lance Reynolds, Boston Herald, 20 Aug. 2026

Definition of manhandle

Verb

Trump has been bullying Canada since the start of his second term.

— Robert B. Reich, Hartford Courant, 25 Aug. 2026
All of us artists could stand to be more like Mark, willing to speak out for oppressed people everywhere, even when powerful people try to bully us into silence.

— Abid Rahman, HollywoodReporter, 25 Aug. 2026

Definition of bully

Verb

And statistically, your chances of getting jumped and mauled by a bear are so low compared to any other real danger in the backcountry.

— Alex Robinson, Outdoor Life, 20 Aug. 2026
Also in July, in Kenai, a local resident was mauled by a brown bear that had climbed over the fence into her front yard, with its two cubs, according to the Alaska Department of Public Safety.

— Stephen Smith, CBS News, 17 Aug. 2026

Definition of maul

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malt liquors

maltreat

maltreated

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“Maltreat.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/maltreat. Accessed 3 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of maltreat

verb

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