Mishandle

//mɪsˈhændəl// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Rough manipulation which causes physical damage. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    Ineffective or incorrect deal. countable, uncountable
  3. 3
    Improper, wrong, or bad usage or treatment; abuse. countable, uncountable
Verb
  1. 1
    To manipulate something roughly, causing physical damage. transitive

    "If you mishandle a fragile package, the contents may break."

  2. 2
    manage badly or incompetently wordnet
  3. 3
    To deal with a situation incorrectly or ineffectively; to make a mistake in handling a situation. transitive

    "The prime minister was accused of mishandling the diplomatic crisis."

  4. 4
    make a mess of, destroy or ruin wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
mismanagebotchmaltreatmismanageabuseabuse

Example

More examples

"Be careful not to drop or mishandle your tortoise."

Etymology

From Middle English mishandlen, equivalent to mis- + handle. Cognate with Saterland Frisian mishondelje, West Frisian mishandelje, Dutch mishandelen (“to mistreat”), German misshandeln (“to mistreat”).

More for "mishandle"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.