abuse
Americanverb (used with object)
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abuses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
abused,
past participle, past
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abusing
present participle
-
to use wrongly or improperly; misuse.
to abuse one's authority.
- Synonyms:
- misapply
-
to treat in a harmful, injurious, or offensive way.
to abuse a horse; to abuse one's eyesight.
-
to speak insultingly, harshly, and unjustly to or about; revile; malign.
- Synonyms:
- scold, berate, vituperate, vilify, traduce, calumniate, defame, slander
- Antonyms:
- praise
-
to commit sexual assault upon.
-
Obsolete. to deceive or mislead.
noun
-
abuses
plural
-
wrong or improper use; misuse.
the abuse of privileges.
- Synonyms:
- misapplication
-
harshly or coarsely insulting language.
The officer heaped abuse on his men.
- Antonyms:
- praise
-
bad or improper treatment; maltreatment.
The child was subjected to cruel abuse.
-
a corrupt or improper practice or custom.
the abuses of a totalitarian regime.
-
rape or sexual assault.
-
Obsolete. deception.
idioms
verb
-
to use incorrectly or improperly; misuse
-
to maltreat, esp physically or sexually
-
to speak insultingly or cruelly to; revile
-
(reflexive) to masturbate
noun
-
improper, incorrect, or excessive use; misuse
-
maltreatment of a person; injury
-
insulting, contemptuous, or coarse speech
-
an evil, unjust, or corrupt practice
-
See child abuse
-
archaic a deception
Usage
What does abuse mean? Warning: This article involves discussion of the sensitive topics of physical and emotional abuse and substance abuse. If you or someone you know needs support, please visit the National Domestic Violence Hotline site to chat or call the hotline at 1-800-799-7233. For support with substance abuse, call the National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357. The verb abuse most commonly means to mistreat and cause harm to a person or an animal. The noun abuse refers to such mistreatment. The victim of the abuse or the kind of abuse is often specified before the word, as in child abuse, spousal abuse, animal abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and sexual abuse. A person who abuses someone can be called an abuser, and such a person is said to be abusive. Abuse can also be used as a verb meaning to misuse something or as a noun meaning misuse—referring to the overuse or improper use of things. This sense of the word is especially seen in the phrases alcohol abuse, drug abuse, substance abuse, and abuse of power. As a verb, abuse is pronounced uh-BYOOZ. As a noun, it’s pronounced uh-BYOOS. This same pronunciation pattern is seen in the verb and noun forms of the word use (which rhyme with the verb and noun forms of abuse, respectively). Example: Just because it’s not physical doesn’t mean it’s not abuse—emotional abuse can leave its own scars.
Synonym Usage
Abuse, censure, invective all mean strongly expressed disapproval. Abuse implies an outburst of harsh and scathing words against another (often one who is defenseless): abuse directed against an opponent. Censure implies blame, adverse criticism, or hostile condemnation: severe censure of acts showing bad judgment. Invective applies to strong but formal denunciation in speech or print, often in the public interest: invective against graft.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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abusernoun
-
overabusenoun
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abusableadjective
-
antiabuseadjective
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unabusableadjective
-
unabusedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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abusesimple
-
abusessimple
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have abusedperfect
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has abusedperfect
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am abusingprogressive
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are abusingprogressive
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is abusingprogressive
-
have been abusingperfect progressive
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has been abusingperfect progressive
Past
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abusedsimple
-
had abusedperfect
-
was abusingprogressive
-
were abusingprogressive
-
had been abusingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of abuse
First recorded in 1400–50; (for the noun) late Middle English abus, from Middle French, from Latin abūsus “misuse, waste,” noun use of past participle of abūtī “to use up, misuse,” from ab- ab- + ūtī “to use, employ, enjoy”; see also use; verb derivative of the noun
Explanation
If you abuse someone, it means you are hurting that person, mentally, emotionally, or physically. If someone else is harming you, you are yourself suffering from abuse. The word abuse is made up of two parts — "use," which means to employ, and ab-, a Latin prefix meaning "away" — and as a whole comes from the Latin abūsus, meaning "misuse," or "use wrongly." It began as a verb and became a noun in the mid-15th century. Abuse also refers to anything that is employed improperly or to excess, such as the abuse of alcohol or drugs.
Vocabulary lists containing abuse
Common Five-letter Words for Wordle, List 4
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Macbeth's "Is this a dagger..." soliloquy
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Herbert Hoover on "Rugged Individualism" (1928)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"Strangers, who had no direct involvement in their care, probed their most sensitive and personal information in a flagrant abuse of power," the authors wrote.
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026
Jimenez’s civil rights attorney, Greg Jackson, said he was filing suit against the federal government this week alleging malicious prosecution and abuse of process.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026
Consult a trust-and-estate attorney who specializes in elder financial abuse so you can make an informed decision.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 5, 2026
Why play nice after he dogged her with ads using her estranged mother, claiming that Acton had lied about her childhood sexual abuse?
From Slate ● Nov. 4, 2026
However, the American worker now faces a much different challenge than that of abuse from greedy owners.
From "1919 The Year That Changed America" by Martin W. Sandler
Four years ago, U.N. human-rights officials said China’s abuses in Xinjiang potentially amounted to “crimes against humanity.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026
Most types of legal claim are thus blocked by this immunity, including cases about serious human rights abuses and data breaches, and there are no exemptions for unjustifiable conduct.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026
But critics say these programs generally focus on environmental crimes and overlook labor abuses on ships.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
Mass defections erode loyalty, expose human-rights abuses and signal internal instability.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
Brenda Lewis was a former Montgomery police officer who joined us after seeing more abuses of power than she could tolerate at the police department.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
Artex was "abused by some bad actors" to launch cyberattacks, the tool's developer "Autumn-27" wrote Thursday on code-hosting platform GitHub.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
We are introduced to mortgage-backed securities and to the people who dreamt them up and abused them, antiheroes of the 2007-09 debt debacle.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday signed legislation that seeks to remove abused and neglected animals from crowded municipal shelters during their owners’ criminal cases, according to the bill’s backers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2026
Saylor made clear that he knew the game perfectly well as he asked these people, whose trust had been routinely abused, to trust him with their money.
From Slate ● Sep. 20, 2026
Although I could detect disdain and hatred in their attitudes, they never shouted at me or abused me.
From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright
Niemi said he asked the same question about gay men abusing children to several interview subjects that day, and none of them reacted with violence.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026
In 2016, Gutiérrez became Spotify’s top lawyer and was an architect and public face of its fight against Apple, which Spotify complained was abusing its control over the App Store.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
Prosecutors in Colombia have accused former foreign minister Laura Sarabia of abusing her power after she made her nanny take a lie detector test.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
I have read and replied to many cautionary tales about people abusing their responsibilities.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 2026
There were no words from them about how they were going to take any responsibility for keeping students from abusing us.
From "Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High" by Melba Pattillo Beals
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