mishandle
Americanverb (used with object)
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mishandles,
present (3rd person singular)
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mishandled,
past participle, past
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mishandling
present participle
-
to handle badly; maltreat.
to mishandle a dog.
-
to manage badly.
to mishandle an estate.
-
to lose or misplace.
to mishandle baggage.
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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mishandlesimple
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mishandlessimple
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have mishandledperfect
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has mishandledperfect
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am mishandlingprogressive
-
are mishandlingprogressive
-
is mishandlingprogressive
-
have been mishandlingperfect progressive
-
has been mishandlingperfect progressive
Past
-
mishandledsimple
-
had mishandledperfect
-
was mishandlingprogressive
-
were mishandlingprogressive
-
had been mishandlingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of mishandle
Explanation
When you mishandle something, you make a mess of it. For example, a teacher who mishandles a classroom loses control of his students. An entrepreneur who mishandles an important meeting at her bank might have lost an opportunity to borrow money for her business, and a dog trainer who mishandles an aggressive dog might end up getting bitten. When you handle something, you deal with it, and when you add the Old English prefix mis-, it means that you've dealt with it in a "wrong" or "bad" way.
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.
See Examples For:
On cold tires, cars like the Ferrari don’t handle; they mishandle.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2025
An independent investigation found that Wada did not mishandle the case or show bias towards the Chinese swimmers.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2024
Davis will be the kick returner to open the regular season, although he did mishandle a punt in the Chargers’ second preseason game, the ball eventually going out of bounds.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2023
“If they mishandle the looming financial risks, that could affect the economy” too severely to merit the risk, he said.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 14, 2023
"Ay, they may mishandle him!" he continued feebly, his head sinking yet lower on his breast.
From The Abbess Of Vlaye by Stanley J. Weyman
And as Xi warned that the world's two largest economies could "come into conflict" if Washington mishandles the Taiwan issue, minor skirmishes broke out on the sidelines of their meeting.
From Barron's ● May 14, 2026
A majority of consumers of Asian and Pacific Islander descent are not willing to shrug off media and advertising that ridicules or mishandles their culture.
From Seattle Times ● May 1, 2024
“What data is being collected? Who is it actually being shared with? Under what legal regimes are they being protected? If someone mishandles my information, what is my recourse?”
From Washington Post ● Feb. 14, 2020
If a company mishandles user data that it holds, like in the event of a data breach, the business has 72 hours to alert EU users who were affected.
From Slate ● May 24, 2018
I wish you could see the way he mishandles a cigar.
From Quill's Window by George Barr McCutcheon
"Our investigation confirmed that these individuals mishandled sensitive information outside established company procedures, violating our policies and breaking the trust essential to our work."
From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026
“Our investigation confirmed that these individuals mishandled sensitive information outside established company procedures, violating our policies and breaking the trust essential to our work.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
Minutes later, Manning found transfer receiver Cam Coleman with a deep ball—that Coleman mishandled, letting it bounce off his chest and into the arms of an Ohio State defender for an interception.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026
Raman, on the other hand, said Bass mishandled the city’s response to SB 79, even as the city failed to produce enough new homes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
"Are you saying the police mishandled the investigation?"
From "How It Went Down" by Kekla Magoon
ChatGPT-maker OpenAI said Thursday that it has fired three researchers for allegedly mishandling "sensitive information" and violating company policies, including work that involved an external organization that evaluates artificial intelligence models.
From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026
It is true that mishandling data can lead to mistakes or false accusations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
Four missing people have been found dead on South Korean holiday island Jeju, as local police face mounting public criticism for allegedly mishandling missing persons cases.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
State Farm relies on various outside firms to litigate policy disputes, including some stemming from alleged mishandling of claims related to the January 2025 wildfires.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
Jones was a large man and strong enough to shake off his attackers, but he did not respond to his mishandling with force of his own.
From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy
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.
