Synonym Chooser

How does the verb mangle contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of mangle are batter, cripple, maim, and mutilate. While all these words mean "to injure so severely as to cause lasting damage," mangle implies a tearing or crushing that leaves deep wounds.

a soldier's leg mangled by shrapnel

When would batter be a good substitute for mangle?

Although the words batter and mangle have much in common, batter implies a series of blows that bruise deeply, deform, or mutilate.

an old ship battered by fierce storms

When could cripple be used to replace mangle?

While in some cases nearly identical to mangle, cripple implies the loss or serious impairment of an arm or leg.

crippled for life in an accident

When is maim a more appropriate choice than mangle?

The meanings of maim and mangle largely overlap; however, maim implies the loss or injury of a bodily member through violence.

maimed by a shark

Where would mutilate be a reasonable alternative to mangle?

The synonyms mutilate and mangle are sometimes interchangeable, but mutilate implies the cutting off or removal of an essential part of a person or thing thereby impairing its completeness, beauty, or function.

a tree mutilated by inept pruning

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 mangle The wreck left the vehicles mangled in the road with one resting slightly on top of a boulder with its rear and passenger side crumpled. Anthony Solorzano, Los Angeles Times, 31 Mar. 2025 Torrey Pines was the site of his last top-10 finish on the PGA Tour in 2020, a year before Woods badly mangled his right leg in a car crash on a coastal Los Angeles road. Doug Ferguson, Chicago Tribune, 11 Feb. 2025 Their family of 11 is living in a tent alongside heaps of concrete and mangled steel that now lie where their home once stood. Jeremy Diamond, CNN, 6 Mar. 2025 Images showed an uprooted tree smashed into a mobile home while mangled debris littered the streets. Christopher Cann, USA TODAY, 4 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for mangle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mangle
Verb
  • United goalkeeper Altay Bayındır fumbled the ball on the edge of his area, allowing Villa forward Morgan Rogers to take possession and put the ball into the net.
    George Ramsay, CNN Money, 26 May 2025
  • Minnesota Vikings: Aaron Jones — Jones came up in the discussion about fumbling, but that will not stop him from being the leading backfield producer for the Vikings.
    Jake Ciely, New York Times, 21 May 2025
Verb
  • Failing to install the tax would blow an additional $80 million hole in Chicago’s 2026 budget as the city already faces a budget gap of around $1 billion, Budget Director Annette Guzman said.
    Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 4 June 2025
  • Wind blows the dust into the atmosphere and begins moving it westward over the Atlantic Ocean.
    Brayden Garcia, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 3 June 2025
Verb
  • Unlike the 2017 iteration (dubbed Deluxe), Mario Kart World (out June 5) isn’t just an upgrade to a previous title, but an all-new entry in the beloved racing franchise built from the ground up for Nintendo’s next generation console.
    Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 3 June 2025
  • The 1991 parade, dubbed the National Victory Celebration, was held on June 8, 1991, and marked the first time the capital had seen such an event since the end of the Second World War 46 years earlier.
    Paul Iddon, Forbes.com, 3 June 2025
Verb
  • But Foxx lamented how the producer ruined his legacy after being arrested in Manhattan last September following a grand jury indictment.
    Mekishana Pierre Published, EW.com, 3 June 2025
  • The relationship between Ludovico and Silvia sparked deadly resentment—Ludovico feared Giorgio might expose the affair and ruin his reputation.
    Isabella Wandermurem, Time, 3 June 2025
Verb
  • That’s where arrest reports say Doral residents Manuel Lazzaro and Wilson Muñoz Suarez, neither of whom holds a Florida license, botched surgeries last fall.
    David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 1 June 2025
  • The next inning, Simon straight-up botched a grounder from Wade and then threw wildly on attempt to turn a double play on a bouncer from Tatis.
    Jeff Sanders, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 May 2025
Verb
  • There, several members yanked Junior out of the deli and butchered him with knives and a machete.
    Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News, 31 May 2025
  • The harvests became community events where younger tribal members learned how their ancestors butchered and used the buffalo.
    Mary Hudetz, ProPublica, 28 May 2025
Verb
  • Anyone who watched Anderson and president Michael Crow bungle their way through a multi-year football crisis and show little regard for diehard fans was understandably skeptical of Crow’s decision to hire from within.
    Jon Wilner, Mercury News, 22 May 2025
  • Further investigation showed that the department bungled follow-up care too, failing to investigate the sources of lead exposure for some children.
    Brenda Goodman, CNN Money, 9 May 2025
Verb
  • If trillion-dollar bonds are required to contest trillion-dollar damages our government is causing, that destroys the protections our Constitution provides its citizens against the rule of tyrants.
    Letters to the Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 8 June 2025
  • The first move for a mistrial from Combs’ legal team occurred at the end of May, after prosecutors asked Los Angeles Fire Department arson investigator Lance Jimenez if fingerprint evidence related to the bombing of Kid Cudi's car had been destroyed.
    Toria Sheffield, People.com, 8 June 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Mangle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mangle. Accessed 15 Jun. 2025.

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