Mistreat

//mɪsˈtɹiːt// verb

verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To treat someone, or something roughly or badly. transitive
  2. 2
    treat badly wordnet
  3. 3
    To administer an incorrect treatment to a patient. transitive

    "The syphilis that Catapano and other AIDS-syphilis theorists are especially concerned about may develop when repeated treponeme infections are not treated, or, more commonly, are 'mistreated with penicillin."

Synonyms

All synonyms
abuseill-treatill-useill treatabuseafflict

Example

More examples

"Tom is said to mistreat his wife."

Etymology

From mis- + treat.

More for "mistreat"

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.