Transcription
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- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
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- [mal-treet]
- /mælˈtrit/
- /ˌmælˈtriːt/
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- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
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- [mal-treet]
- /mælˈtrit/
Definitions of maltreat word
- verb with object maltreat to treat or handle badly, cruelly, or roughly; abuse: to maltreat a prisoner. 1
- noun maltreat Treat (a person or animal) cruelly or with violence. 1
- transitive verb maltreat treat badly 1
- verb maltreat If a person or animal is maltreated, they are treated badly, especially by being hurt. 0
- verb maltreat to treat badly, cruelly, or inconsiderately 0
- verb transitive maltreat to treat roughly or unkindly; abuse 0
Information block about the term
Origin of maltreat
First appearance:
before 1700 One of the 50% oldest English words
1700-10; earlier maltrait < French maltraiter. See mal-, treat
Historical Comparancy
Parts of speech for Maltreat
noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
maltreat popularity
A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 65% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.
Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".
maltreat usage trend in Literature
This diagram is provided by Google Ngram ViewerSynonyms for maltreat
verb maltreat
- victimize — to make a victim of.
- misuse — wrong or improper use; misapplication.
- harm — a U.S. air-to-surface missile designed to detect and destroy radar sites by homing on their emissions.
- damage — To damage an object means to break it, spoil it physically, or stop it from working properly.
- mishandle — to handle badly; maltreat: to mishandle a dog.
Antonyms for maltreat
verb maltreat
- aid — Aid is money, equipment, or services that are provided for people, countries, or organizations who need them but cannot provide them for themselves.
- assist — If you assist someone, you help them to do a job or task by doing part of the work for them.
- benefit — The benefit of something is the help that you get from it or the advantage that results from it.
- improve — to bring into a more desirable or excellent condition: He took vitamins to improve his health.
- mend — to make (something broken, worn, torn, or otherwise damaged) whole, sound, or usable by repairing: to mend old clothes; to mend a broken toy.
Top questions with maltreat
- what does maltreat mean?
See also
Matching words
- Words starting with m
- Words starting with ma
- Words starting with mal
- Words starting with malt
- Words starting with maltr
- Words starting with maltre
- Words starting with maltrea
- Words starting with maltreat