Synonym Chooser

How does the verb mangle contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of mangle are batter, cripple, maim, and mutilate. While all these words mean "to injure so severely as to cause lasting damage," mangle implies a tearing or crushing that leaves deep wounds.

a soldier's leg mangled by shrapnel

When would batter be a good substitute for mangle?

Although the words batter and mangle have much in common, batter implies a series of blows that bruise deeply, deform, or mutilate.

an old ship battered by fierce storms

When could cripple be used to replace mangle?

While in some cases nearly identical to mangle, cripple implies the loss or serious impairment of an arm or leg.

crippled for life in an accident

When is maim a more appropriate choice than mangle?

The meanings of maim and mangle largely overlap; however, maim implies the loss or injury of a bodily member through violence.

maimed by a shark

Where would mutilate be a reasonable alternative to mangle?

The synonyms mutilate and mangle are sometimes interchangeable, but mutilate implies the cutting off or removal of an essential part of a person or thing thereby impairing its completeness, beauty, or function.

a tree mutilated by inept pruning

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 mangle The wreck left the vehicles mangled in the road with one resting slightly on top of a boulder with its rear and passenger side crumpled. Anthony Solorzano, Los Angeles Times, 31 Mar. 2025 Torrey Pines was the site of his last top-10 finish on the PGA Tour in 2020, a year before Woods badly mangled his right leg in a car crash on a coastal Los Angeles road. Doug Ferguson, Chicago Tribune, 11 Feb. 2025 Their family of 11 is living in a tent alongside heaps of concrete and mangled steel that now lie where their home once stood. Jeremy Diamond, CNN, 6 Mar. 2025 Images showed an uprooted tree smashed into a mobile home while mangled debris littered the streets. Christopher Cann, USA TODAY, 4 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for mangle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mangle
Verb
  • Massey ranged to his left, lost his footing and fumbled the ball.
    Evan Webeck, Mercury News, 20 May 2025
  • Gutierrez found the jury was confused by antitrust law elements and fumbled a calculation for damages by mistaking an overcharge with a discount.
    Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 13 May 2025
Verb
  • Failing to install the tax would blow an additional $80 million hole in Chicago’s 2026 budget as the city already faces a budget gap of around $1 billion, Budget Director Annette Guzman said.
    Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 4 June 2025
  • Wind blows the dust into the atmosphere and begins moving it westward over the Atlantic Ocean.
    Brayden Garcia, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 3 June 2025
Verb
  • The nonprofit operates the Bullet Related Injury Clinic, dubbed the BRIC, which provides free treatment for physical and mental injuries caused by bullets.
    Bram Sable-Smith, CNN Money, 3 June 2025
  • The 1991 parade, dubbed the National Victory Celebration, was held on June 8, 1991, and marked the first time the capital had seen such an event since the end of the Second World War 46 years earlier.
    Paul Iddon, Forbes.com, 3 June 2025
Verb
  • The situation took a turn when Amy accidentally ruined her earbuds in the wash.
    Ashley Vega, People.com, 3 June 2025
  • There were missions that felt like a rally racing mini-game, asking me to navigate between timer-extending rings dotting barren desert ruins.
    ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 3 June 2025
Verb
  • That’s where arrest reports say Doral residents Manuel Lazzaro and Wilson Muñoz Suarez, neither of whom holds a Florida license, botched surgeries last fall.
    David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 1 June 2025
  • The next inning, Simon straight-up botched a grounder from Wade and then threw wildly on attempt to turn a double play on a bouncer from Tatis.
    Jeff Sanders, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 May 2025
Verb
  • Tech behemoths are jury-rigging AI features into their products to avoid being disrupted—but these rollouts, and Apple’s in particular, have been disastrous, giving dangerous health advice, butchering news summaries, and generally crowding and slowing user experiences.
    Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 22 May 2025
  • The way they were butchered also implies community organization.
    Paul Smaglik, Discover Magazine, 12 May 2025
Verb
  • Anyone who watched Anderson and president Michael Crow bungle their way through a multi-year football crisis and show little regard for diehard fans was understandably skeptical of Crow’s decision to hire from within.
    Jon Wilner, Mercury News, 22 May 2025
  • Further investigation showed that the department bungled follow-up care too, failing to investigate the sources of lead exposure for some children.
    Brenda Goodman, CNN Money, 9 May 2025
Verb
  • The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a plea from a group of Native American activists and supporters to block a copper mining company from destroying an Apache religious site.
    Jack Birle, The Washington Examiner, 27 May 2025
  • During the week of my embed, the Russian military identified and destroyed a few of the Vampire pilots’ positions.
    Nataliya Gumenyuk, The Atlantic, 27 May 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Mangle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mangle. Accessed 7 Jun. 2025.

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