well-handled

adjective

Definition of well-handlednext
as in worn

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Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of well-handled The initial shock of this freak accident is well-handled, notably when Jay tries to scramble up the whale’s jawline by climbing its teeth. — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 14 Oct. 2026 That scene was potentially such a minefield, but so well-handled. — Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 10 Aug. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for well-handled
  1. worn
  2. aged
  3. shopworn
  4. shabby
  5. spoiled
  6. old
  7. beat-up
  8. stale
Adjective
  • The Blackpink singer is sitting next to the brains behind Tame Impala on a worn brown leather couch at a music school in Boston.
    — Maya Georgi, Rolling Stone, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Everything is designed to mix and match, so building a capsule from Splits59 feels less like acquiring and more like editing down to what actually gets worn.
    — Zoë Mackay, Footwear News, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of worn
Adjective
  • Comparing households aged 72 and older in 2022 with those aged 75 and older in 2025, Maggiulli calculated a smaller—but still substantial—21% increase.
    — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 17 Oct. 2026
  • The chief said that officers on the scene found three children, aged five, eight, and 11, and a teacher dead.
    — Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of aged
Adjective
  • Perhaps most astonishingly, the movie manages to make creepy clowns — that shopworn trope — genuinely frightening again.
    — Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 7 July 2026
  • The Broncos look slow, sloppy, shopworn and stale.
    — Joe Nguyen, Denver Post, 6 Nov. 2025
Definition of shopworn
Adjective
  • The once grand building, where celebrities and socialites have slept, lived, and partied for decades, is undeniably shabby, with worn carpets and crumbling plumbing.
    — Kim Velsey, Curbed, 15 Oct. 2026
  • These shabby little movie houses, tucked away in the back alleys of Shinjuku, smelled of urine and stale tobacco.
    — Ian Buruma, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of shabby
Adjective
  • Supermarket staffers were confronted by pools of water beneath freezers and spoiled produce earlier this week after hackers took control of refrigerators in hundreds of grocery stores across France.
    — Sana Noor Haq, CNN Money, 14 Oct. 2026
  • The Paris prosecutor’s office said Tuesday that its cybercrime unit was investigating the large-scale attack, including the extent of damage caused by spoiled food and reports of fires.
    — Angela Charlton, Los Angeles Times, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of spoiled
Adjective
  • The pickup’s driver, a 34-year-old woman from Garden City, Kansas, was taken into custody but was later released after police consulted with the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office.
    — Maggie Vespa, NBC news, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Melanie Lawrence, a 68-year-old independent, worries about wells going dry in her area near Willcox, where the groundwater grew so depleted that the land started to crack.
    — Hannah Knowles The Washington Post, Arkansas Online, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of old
Adjective
  • The beat-up Carolina defense will have a difficult time slowing Jared Goff and the Lions offense.
    — Langston Wertz Jr, Charlotte Observer, 4 Oct. 2026
  • At this, Newsom brightens, mentioning a framed photograph at home, a black-and-white image of Kennedy kneeling in front of a young boy next to an old beat-up car.
    — Joe Hagan, Vanity Fair, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of beat-up
Adjective
  • If the shags, layers, and face-framing of 2025 are starting to feel stale, a straightforward one-length reset may be in order.
    — Loren Savini, Allure, 14 Oct. 2026
  • Turn off basic authentication, remove stale OAuth grants, and require modern sign-in methods.
    — Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of stale

Browse Nearby Words

well-grounded
well-handled
wellhead
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Cite this Entry

“Well-handled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/well-handled. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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