Meanings
present singular third person ill-treats · participle present ill-treating · participle past ill-treated · past ill-treated
- To treat someone or something badly or unkindly; to abuse or mistreat.
He would never speak a word, only eat and cry, and she hadn't the heart to strike it or illtreat the youngster either; but somebody taught her a charm to make him speak, and then she found out what kind of a brat he really was.
1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 297Synonyms: mistreat
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo treat someone or something badly or unkindly; to abuse or mistreat.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Japanese 虐待する
- 虐待する (gyakutai-suru)to treat someone badly
Māori tunuhuruhuru, tūkino
- tunuhuruhuruto treat someone badly
- tūkinoto treat someone badly
- rurerureto treat someone badly
Polish poniewierać, sponiewierać
- poniewieraćto treat someone badly
- sponiewieraćto treat someone badly
- maltretowaćto treat someone badly
- zmaltretowaćto treat someone badly
- znęcać sięto treat someone badly
Cite this entry
ill-treat. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ill-treat
“ill-treat.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ill-treat. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ill-treat,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ill-treat.
Source: ill-treat on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.