maltreat
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has maltreatedperfect 3rd person singular
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have maltreatedperfect
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have been maltreatingperfect progressive
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am maltreatingprogressive 1st person singular
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maltreatssingular 3rd person
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are maltreatingprogressive
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is maltreatingprogressive 3rd person singular
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has been maltreatingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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maltreatingparticiple
Past
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had maltreatedperfect
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had been maltreatingperfect progressive
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were maltreatingprogressive plural
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was maltreatingprogressive singular
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maltreatedsimple
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maltreatedparticiple
Future
Etymology
Origin of maltreat
First recorded in 1700–10; earlier maltrait, from French maltraiter; see mal-, treat
Explanation
If you maltreat someone, you treat them very badly. It's best not to maltreat your little sister — she may grow up to be bigger, stronger, and smarter than you. Also, it's just not very nice. If you're cruel to someone on purpose, you maltreat them. You can also say abuse or mistreat. If a big company maltreats its workers, they may rebel by going on strike or joining a lawsuit. This verb combines the prefix mal-, "badly, poorly, or wrong," and the word treat, from the Latin root tractare, "manage or handle."
Vocabulary lists containing maltreat
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Bosses and colleagues who maltreat subordinates with ridicule or lack of consideration are as common as the companies who protect them.
From Salon • Jan. 22, 2022
“How can you maltreat such a beautiful woman?” he was said to have asked the errant husband.
From The Guardian • Mar. 14, 2019
There the President became a member of the Arctic Brotherhood and took an oath never to maltreat horse or dog.
From Time Magazine Archive
The peoples of Europe can maltreat, but happily not judge, one another.
From Time Magazine Archive
It might have been wise to deprive a too ambitious bishop of his castle, but it was not wise personally to maltreat the clergy.
From A Student's History of England, v. 1 (of 3) From the earliest times to the Death of King Edward VII by Gardiner, Samuel Rawson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
