roughed (up)

verb

past tense of rough (up)
1
as in licked
to strike repeatedly she was badly roughed up by her boxing partner

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in abused
to abuse physically the photographer claimed that he had been roughed up by the actor's bodyguards outside the club

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for roughed (up)
  1. licked
  2. abused
  3. pounded
  4. attacked
  5. lashed
  6. manhandled
  7. whipped
  8. ambushed
Verb
  • Some wagged their tails as people approached, licked their hands and even liked to be petted.
    — Alida de Flamingh, The Conversation, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Tuxedo kitten Paolina bounced onto my chest and licked my fingers.
    — Solvej Schou, Los Angeles Times, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of licked
Verb
  • The act also has been sorely abused and used as a tool to stop projects, particularly housing.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 26 Oct. 2026
  • In 2023, the Illinois attorney general released a detailed report that identified 451 Catholic priests and religious brothers who the investigation found had abused at least 1,997 children across the state’s six Catholic dioceses.
    — Judy L. Thomas, Kansas City Star, 25 Oct. 2026
Definition of abused
Verb
  • Hail the size of golf balls and damaging wind gusts pounded northern and central Arizona in a rare storm blowing through, bringing with it tornado risks and possible flash floods.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 21 Oct. 2026
  • But the boat overtook me, pounded at me as if asking me not to leave it.
    — Gerald R. Hunter, Outdoor Life, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of pounded
Verb
  • The men were returning to camp when their white armored Toyota Land Cruiser was attacked by members of the two Haitian gangs.
    — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 23 Oct. 2026
  • After Israel accepted its meager portion, Arabs attacked and retained a significant part of the land that was to be divided between Jews and Arabs.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of attacked
Verb
  • The snake tried to circle and squeeze, but the rat lashed with her claws and teeth.
    — Madeline ffitch, Harpers Magazine, 27 Oct. 2026
  • News of the briefing leaked, and the senators lashed out at the FBI, saying their efforts to scrutinize the Biden family had been discredited and falsely linked to Russian disinformation.
    — Eric Tucker, Los Angeles Times, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of lashed
Verb
  • He got stuffed by double-team blocks and turned away by larger Toronto wings, who manhandled the slighter forward in his attempts to create downhill momentum.
    — Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 22 Oct. 2026
  • The Dallas Cowboys were manhandled by the Green Bay Packers 23-13 on Sunday night to drop to 2-4 this season.
    — Jim Barnes, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of manhandled
Verb
  • Brown became the leader of the House Trade Working Group, a caucus of Democratic representatives opposed to free-trade agreements who whipped votes on those deals.
    — Dan Kaufman, New Yorker, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Fire crews scrambled late Saturday as fierce winds whipped flames beyond Canadian Forces Base Wainwright and into the surrounding rural area.
    — Rob Gillies, Chicago Tribune, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of whipped
Verb
  • Three planeloads of soldiers from El Salvador landed in Haiti on Friday, days after the Central American nation’s president angrily threatened Haitian gangs that ambushed a group of Salvadoran soldiers over the past weekend who remain missing.
    — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Task Force were returning to their camp Sunday in a white all-terrain Toyota when they were ambushed by heavily armed criminals, according to the Salvadoran military.
    — Widlore Mérancourt, Washington Post, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of ambushed
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

roughed it
roughed (up)
roughen
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Roughed (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/roughed%20%28up%29. Accessed 30 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of reticent

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Pwn, Skibidi, Girlboss and Other Words Added to the 2026 Scrabble Dictionary

The Words of the Week - Oct. 30

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All