Standard Lemma guide

maltreatment

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /malˈtɹiːtmənt/
  • US: /malˈtɹit.mɛnt/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: M AE0 L T R IY1 T M AH0 N T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Cruel or harmful treatment or abuse; mistreatment.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

cruel or inhumane treatment

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the child showed signs of physical abuse

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: ill-treatment, ill-usage, abuse

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: mistreatment

Narrower terms: child abuse, child neglect, persecution, cruelty, inhuman treatment

History

Etymology

By surface analysis, maltreat + -ment.

Across languages

Translations

18 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: малтретиране (maltretirane) — cruel or harmful treatment
  • Czech: týrání — cruel or harmful treatment
  • Dutch: mishandeling — cruel or harmful treatment
  • French: sévice — cruel or harmful treatment
  • French: maltraitement — cruel or harmful treatment
  • German: Misshandlung — cruel or harmful treatment
  • Italian: maltrattamento — cruel or harmful treatment
  • Japanese: 虐待 (gyakutai) — cruel or harmful treatment
  • Japanese: 差別 (sabetsu) — cruel or harmful treatment
  • Japanese: 冷遇 (reigū) — cruel or harmful treatment
  • Latin: contumēlia — cruel or harmful treatment
  • Māori: tūkinonga — cruel or harmful treatment
  • Māori: rurerurenga — cruel or harmful treatment
  • Norwegian Bokmål: mishandling — cruel or harmful treatment
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: mishandling — cruel or harmful treatment
  • Spanish: maltrato — cruel or harmful treatment
  • Spanish: maltratamiento — cruel or harmful treatment
  • Swedish: vanvård — cruel or harmful treatment