misuse
Americannoun
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wrong or improper use; misapplication.
- Synonyms:
- misappropriation, misemployment
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Obsolete. bad or abusive treatment.
verb (used with object)
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to use wrongly or improperly; misapply.
-
to treat badly or abusively; maltreat.
noun
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erroneous, improper, or unorthodox use
misuse of words
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cruel or inhumane treatment
verb
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to use wrongly
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to treat badly or harshly
-
to use (something, esp alcohol, drugs, etc) improperly
Etymology
Origin of misuse
Explanation
Misuse is using something incorrectly or in a harmful way. I warned you that repeated misuse of your cellphone would break it — I can't believe you were texting in the shower! You can use this word as a noun or a verb, with just a slight change in pronunciation. As a noun, misuse rhymes moose. But when you misuse the money your parents gave you for groceries, spending it all on candy and comic books, misuse rhymes with confuse. A less-common meaning of the verb is "treat someone badly."
Vocabulary lists containing misuse
mis-
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Prefixes: mis-
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mis-
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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.
Many homes “inappropriately diagnosed residents with schizophrenia to mask the nursing homes’ misuse of antipsychotic drugs and to artificially inflate their star ratings,” it adds.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 7, 2026
“In the quickly expanding universe of cases involving sanctions for the misuse of artificial intelligence, this case is a notorious outlier in both degree and volume,” Clarke wrote.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 27, 2026
The results followed a campaign during which videos purporting to show figures close to the Freedom party were caught discussing ways to circumvent lobbying rules or misuse public funds.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 23, 2026
The 19-year-old joins celebrities such as actor Matthew McConaughey who have filed to protect their likeness from AI misuse in recent months.
From BBC • Mar. 20, 2026
There are so many examples of human misuse of the Earth that even phrasing this question chills me.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
