EN

Synonyms for mishandle

  • verb
  • noun

Most common

ball up muff bungle botch

Synonyms by meaning

Verb

1. Muff

muff, bungle, botch, ball up, mess up, ruin, blow, spoil, foul up, fumble, pollute, fluff, muck up informal, bumble, bobble US, louse up informal, botch up informal, flub US AU NZ, bodge, bollix, bolix US, vitiate, bollocks vulgar UK IE

2. Abuse — to manipulate something roughly, causing physical damage

abuse, misuse, maul

3. Mismanage

mismanage, misconduct

Noun

fuck-up, screw-up

Definitions

  1. v. 1

    To manipulate something roughly, causing physical damage.

    If you mishandle a fragile package, the contents may break.

  2. v. 2

    To deal with a situation incorrectly or ineffectively; to make a mistake in handling a situation.

    The prime minister was accused of mishandling the diplomatic crisis.

  3. n. 1

    Rough manipulation which causes physical damage.

Forms

Plural
mishandles → fuck-ups, screw-ups…
Past participle
mishandled
e.g. mishandled → muffed, bungled, botched, ruined…

Example sentences

  • bungle The company will never recover after that last bungle.
  • botch Tom and Mary hope that they don't botch the job.

Popularity over time

Word1850 → 2019Trend
mishandlerising
muffrising
bunglesteady
botchrising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

4 letters
blow1, ruin2, maul1, muff1, flub
5 letters
abuse2, spoil1, fluff1, botch1, bodge, bolix
6 letters
misuse2, fumble2, bumble2, bobble2, bungle2, bollix
7 letters
pollute2, vitiate3
8 letters
bollocks2
9 letters
mismanage3
10 letters
misconduct3

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (ruin2 = 2 syllables).