as in to abuse
to inflict physical or emotional harm upon
anyone who ill-treats their pets should not be allowed to have any
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ill-treat
Verb
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The bill was named after Trey Carlock, a Dallas native who died by suicide in 2019 at the age of 28 after being abused by a Missouri summer camp director.—
Eleanor Dearman,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
27 May 2025 -
Two tribal nations filed a lawsuit saying that the federal government used the trust fund money of tribes to pay for boarding schools where generations of Native children were systematically abused.—
Graham Lee Brewer,
Los Angeles Times,
24 May 2025
Verb
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The allegation that Afrikaners were being mistreated was at the center of an executive order Trump issued days later that cut all U.S. assistance to South Africa.—
Shane Croucher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
21 May 2025
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Two shows on Netflix last year helped inject momentum into a slow-moving legal process, and new interest in the brothers’ fate was fueled by campaigns on TikTok and other social media by younger people who felt the brothers were mistreated in the 1990s.—
Tim Arango,
New York Times,
15 May 2025
Verb
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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
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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
Verb
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After Daniel is bullied by his classmates, he is encouraged to take karate lessons to defend himself.—
Keith Langston,
People.com,
1 June 2025
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For Essiedu’s Snape, his story eventually leads to the revelation that he was relentlessly bullied by James Potter back in the ‘70s, hung upside down with magic at one point, and pining after Lily, James’ eventual wife.—
Paul Tassi,
Forbes.com,
28 May 2025
Verb
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The footage includes a scene in which a Hitler look-alike is tortured.—
Ryan Gajewski,
HollywoodReporter,
3 June 2025
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Now the man accused of torturing her could be facing a murder charge.—
Chris Spargo,
People.com,
30 May 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Ill-treat.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ill-treat. Accessed 10 Jun. 2025.
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