1
as in licked
to strike repeatedly
she was badly roughed up by her boxing partner
Synonyms & Similar Words
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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)
Verb
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The afternoon sun licked the windscreen of the car, and the heat boiled my skin.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Sep. 2025 -
Paul Volcker, the chair of the Federal Reserve at the time, had licked inflation, and the stock market was rising after seventeen years of going sideways.—
L. David Marquet,
Big Think,
18 Aug. 2025
Verb
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The court ruled that Particle plausibly alleged Epic abused its dominance in electronic health records to undermine competition in the payer platform market so that those claims will move forward into discovery.—
David Chou,
Forbes.com,
9 Sep. 2025
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The 7-year-old detailed abuse by her father and stepmother, whose 6-year-old daughter was also allegedly being abused, according to the court documents.—
Mike Stunson,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
8 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The rain pounded so hard Friday afternoon that Aventura police closed a portion of Biscayne Boulevard from 191st Street to 29th Avenue, near Aventura Mall, due to road flooding.—
Howard Cohen,
Miami Herald,
5 Sep. 2025
-
Room for Disagreement Republicans have pounded every Sanders endorsee as a socialist and linked Cooke to her left-wing supporters, regardless of her alignment with their specific policy positions.—
David Weigel,
semafor.com,
4 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Tonges, who before Sunday’s game had never caught a regular-season pass, attacked the ball and gave San Francisco the lead.—
Michael-Shawn Dugar,
New York Times,
8 Sep. 2025
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The occurrences grew more aggressive over time, with the Smurls' 75-pound German shepherd getting slammed into a wall and Jack getting attacked while praying.—
Jessica Sager,
PEOPLE,
7 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The president has frequently lashed out at celebrities who have spoken out against him, recently including the likes of Taylor Swift, Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel.—
Michael Nied,
PEOPLE,
8 Sep. 2025
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Ben-Gvir, who leads a small far-right ultranationalist party, lashed out at the court ruling Sunday.—
Natalie Melzer,
Twin Cities,
8 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Early indications suggest they are still getting manhandled up front.—
Paul Dehner Jr,
New York Times,
19 Aug. 2025
-
The Vikings manhandled the Patriots’ defensive front, yielding just two sacks after allowing close to 10 the day before.—
Andrew Callahan,
Boston Herald,
15 Aug. 2025
Verb
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The actress whipped out some ballerina dance moves to ensure each pair was still comfortable enough for any and all activities.—
Rachel Raposas,
PEOPLE,
4 Sep. 2025
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This mordant delight — about two young men who befriend one another in a support group for people who’ve lost a twin — whipped the Eccles theater into a frenzy with its cuttingly dark laughs and unexpected plot twists.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
4 Sep. 2025
Verb
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De’Andre Johnson ambushed and choked the agent in a DCS office, livestreaming the attack on Facebook.—
Miguel Torres,
AZCentral.com,
6 Sep. 2025
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The season will detail 10 different cases, including a Las Vegas journalist ambushed outside his residence, a body dumped in a NYC tunnel, and a mission to discover the identity of a victim found in the East River.—
Giana Levy,
Variety,
5 Sep. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Roughed (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/roughed%20%28up%29. Accessed 14 Sep. 2025.
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