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
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to commit sexual assault upon.
-
Obsolete. to deceive or mislead.
noun
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abuses
plural
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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
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to maltreat, esp physically or sexually
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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
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overabusenoun
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abusableadjective
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antiabuseadjective
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unabusableadjective
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unabusedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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abusesimple
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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
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have been abusingperfect progressive
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has been abusingperfect progressive
Past
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abusedsimple
-
had abusedperfect
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was abusingprogressive
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were abusingprogressive
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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:
This is not to say that fraternities are all bastions of abuse and vice.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
But others criticised the plan, with one person calling it "deeply wrong, external" and another suggesting it might undermine abuse directed at humans and animals.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
Ironically, Musk actually missed one of the biggest areas of waste, fraud and abuse in the entire system.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
“This represents an important victory for the principle that women who speak out about sexual abuse should not be silenced by NDAs that contravene California law,” Barnett attorney Rosengart said in the notice.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
In his Ring cycle, Wagner tackles the subjects of incest, or the abuse of power, or greed - all pertinent to nineteenth-century Europe - but transports the action to the distant mists of prehistory.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
It condemned all forms of discrimination against women and girls, and reiterated that sexual slavery of boys, and child marriages and forced forced marriages constituted human rights abuses.
From Barron's ● Oct. 5, 2026
It comes as MPs in the UK are seeking new laws on AI after a report found the technology was responsible for numerous abuses of human rights.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
Solicitor Gen. D. John Sauer described the new rules as “modest measures that will help prevent and restrain potential gross abuses of the mails to perpetrate a fraud on the Nation.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
Mr. Davies registers the mistrust many patients felt toward medical research after abuses such as the 1932-72 Tuskegee Syphilis Study.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
To the nation’s horror, the evidence of outrageous abuses kept mounting.
From "1919 The Year That Changed America" by Martin W. Sandler
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
But universities got greedy and abused the system by overcharging the government for overhead.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026
The administration says it seeks assurances from those countries that the deported persons will not be not be abused or persecuted, but it refuses hearings for individuals.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026
The consumer show's notable items, according to her website, external, included "talking dogs, Jobsworth Awards and campaigns on behalf of abused children, organ transplants, safe playgrounds, and to provide justice for consumers".
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
He talked a little more about the poor, abused door and what it meant and then ticked off an appropriate proverb.
From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam
But none of the updates have attracted as much attention or scrutiny as its move to forbid users abusing its chatbots.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
I have read and replied to many cautionary tales about people abusing their responsibilities.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 2026
“Who wants to be accused of abusing children?” said Carl Tobias, a professor at the University of Richmond School of Law.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2026
Many creditors pushed for these changes because they felt some individuals were abusing the system.
From Salon ● Aug. 29, 2026
Many musicians thought that conductors were abusing their power and playing favorites.
From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
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.
