How to Use mistreat in a Sentence

mistreat

verb
  • She claimed she had been mistreated by the police.
  • They accuse him of mistreating his wife.
  • One said no one mistreated him.
    — Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 11 Oct. 2025
  • The rich can kick up a fuss when they are mistreated by police.
    — The Economist, 8 Mar. 2018
  • She was mistreated and abused in every way shape and form there was.
    — Emilee Coblentz, USA TODAY, 7 May 2024
  • The film is in part about how men get away with mistreating women around them.
    — Nicholas Kristof, The Mercury News, 29 Dec. 2024
  • They are mistreated, raped, killed.
    — Karl Ove Knausgaard, New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2025
  • She was never found to have mistreated her children in any way.
    — Eli Hager, ProPublica, 20 June 2025
  • When a foreigner resides among you in a land, do not mistreat them.
    — Jon Kelvey, baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll, 13 July 2019
  • When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them.
    — Alexia Fernandez, PEOPLE.com, 6 Sep. 2017
  • The first involved one of the girls telling him they were being mistreated.
    — Madison Park, CNN, 12 Apr. 2018
  • Don’t exploit or mistreat the refugee, the orphan, and the widow.
    — Corinne Sullivan, Woman's Day, 4 Aug. 2022
  • Hilton and others at the protest vowed to push forward until all schools that mistreat youth are shut down.
    — Brady McCombs and Lindsay Whitehurst, Star Tribune, 9 Oct. 2020
  • At the time, the owner of the ship denied having mistreated the crew in any way.
    — Los Angeles Times, 7 Nov. 2023
  • The paper said he had been accused of mistreating women for more than two decades.
    — New York Times, 13 Apr. 2018
  • Is there a saying about those who are confused about history and doomed to mistreat it?
    — wsj.com, 11 May 2023
  • Surasak said they weren’t mistreated, and were fed pita bread and cheese, with a portion of meat once a week.
    — Kocha Olarn, CNN, 21 Feb. 2025
  • Mihály is a brute who mistreats his mother.
    — Adam Solomons, IndieWire, 28 Aug. 2025
  • The pair allegedly mistreated four of the five children, all of whom are black.
    — Landon Mion, Fox News, 22 Jan. 2025
  • The move came after some over the years criticized him for mistreating his artists.
    — Jonathan Landrum Jr., Fortune, 15 Sep. 2023
  • Julie's only fear now is that they'll be rejected or mistreated as adults one day.
    — Jessica Mattern, Woman's Day, 10 Jan. 2017
  • If forgotten or mistreated, the dead turn against the people who are meant to take care of them.
    — Carlo Gabuco, National Geographic, 9 Apr. 2019
  • Some breeders have been accused of mistreating the dogs or doping them.
    — Rachel Raposas, People.com, 11 Dec. 2024
  • The Chinese have been broug ht here to work on railroads, to work on farms and they were mistreated.
    — Dana Taylor, USA Today, 1 June 2026
  • Your daughter is mistreating you.
    — Judith Martin, Mercury News, 29 May 2026
  • Oliver was sentenced for one of the counts -- for mistreating her 12-year-old.
    — oregonlive.com, 26 June 2019
  • Some said there had been a shortage of food while they were held, while others said they had been mistreated by their captors.
    — Chantal Da Silva, NBC News, 21 Dec. 2023
  • According to court records, that was not the only time his parents had mistreated him.
    — Steven Martinez, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 18 Jan. 2018
  • She was mistreated, held back from going to school, and forced to work for the family who was hosting her.
    — Caterina Clerici & Eléonore Hamelin, Marie Claire, 1 Feb. 2019
  • His mother, Cheri, has often said he has been mistreated in the media.
    — Shannon Ryan, chicagotribune.com, 8 Feb. 2018

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mistreat.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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