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
  • Tuxedo kitten Paolina bounced onto my chest and licked my fingers.
    — Solvej Schou, Los Angeles Times, 10 Aug. 2026
  • Her entire face got licked clean off her head when suburban floodwaters breached the cardboard hull protecting Kath’s basement memorabilia stack a few months before I was born.
    — Claire Carusillo, Harpers Magazine, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of licked
Verb
  • Furious season 1 wrapped up the case as Alice arrested Catherine at Jay Easton’s (Peter McRobbie) house — the site where Catherine and her friend Isabel (Larissa Campos) were abused.
    — Kelly Allen, PEOPLE, 31 Aug. 2026
  • That series revealed just how little many local police departments are doing to make sure street-camera data is not being abused.
    — Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of abused
Verb
  • Russia pounded Kyiv for more than 12 hours in a sixth straight night of attacks, killing at least 12 people including six railway workers and an Indian citizen, and devastating civilian districts.
    — Samya Kullab, Los Angeles Times, 1 Sep. 2026
  • Floods of ‘destructive force’ blast through the canyon As the rain pounded the canyon Saturday, park officials received an alert from the National Weather Service warning of flash flooding in the area.
    — Holly Yan, CNN Money, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of pounded
Verb
  • For example, ExploitGym, a cybersecurity benchmark that was at the center of the July incident in which OpenAI’s models went rogue and attacked the company Hugging Face, was created in 2026.
    — Emily Forlini, Fortune, 5 Sep. 2026
  • In the wake of Thursday’s ruling, a chorus of Missouri Republicans have attacked the court over its decision.
    — Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of attacked
Verb
  • Outside a fierce storm lashed down, wind whipped against the wood planks, thunder shook the ground, water streamed through cracks and floated into the shack.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 1 Sep. 2026
  • In the same series of Sunday morning posts, the president also lashed out at Kristen Welker, the moderator of NBC’s Meet the Press, for saying his endorsements of Republican candidates in primary elections this year had shown mixed results.
    — Jeff Mason, Fortune, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of lashed
Verb
  • New England lost in demoralizing fashion to the Seahawks last February, 29-13, as the Seattle defense manhandled the Patriots’ offense.
    — Lance Reynolds, Boston Herald, 20 Aug. 2026
  • During this stretch, the Colts will face three AFC opponents, including the Steelers, who manhandled them last year and forced Jones to commit a career-high five turnovers in a loss.
    — James Boyd, New York Times, 15 May 2026
Definition of manhandled
Verb
  • Cheese foam is a smooth and slightly salty whipped foam topping popular in boba drinks.
    — Emma Hall, Sacbee.com, 1 Sep. 2026
  • Outside a fierce storm lashed down, wind whipped against the wood planks, thunder shook the ground, water streamed through cracks and floated into the shack.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of whipped
Verb
  • The same 1-2 punch that ambushed Cambridge with 52 points in the Dave Hunter + Corky Kell Classic beat South Gwinnett on Friday 55-20.
    — Jack Leo, AJC.com, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Belle and Cal were ambushed in the finale and shot at by gunmen who were later revealed to be hired by Tom Wheeler, and the episode ended without confirming either of their fates.
    — Julia Moore, PEOPLE, 2 Sep. 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 7 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of gist

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

A List of Most Commonly Confused Words

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 4
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke
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
anagrams on a chalk board
Word Builder Quiz Vol. 2 Pick the letter that when added to a word will ma...
See All