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
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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
-
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:
Two years later, when Meghan did so, the Daily Mail blamed eating avocados for causing droughts and human rights abuse.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
Former Census Bureau senior executive Amy O'Hara called the paper an abuse of the agency's "sterling reputation for high-quality analysis."
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
"It is wrong that the journalists who did their job responsibly are now being subjected to an onslaught of abuse."
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
The ATP later issued a suspended 16-week ban for a "pattern of behaviour related to his verbal abuse of officials and/or spectators" over the previous 12 months.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
In 2000, Congress passed the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act, which was meant to address many of the egregious examples of abuse of civil forfeiture.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
The Duke of Sussex has stepped down from the board of an African wildlife charity whose rangers had been found to have committed human rights abuses against indigenous people.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
Detractors fear that this allows officers to track vehicles without warrants, opening the door to a host of possible abuses of power.
From Barron's ● Aug. 9, 2026
To decide what to fund, staffers with deep expertise typically pored over reams of information on abuses under the most repressive regimes and held an open competition to fund groups to work in those countries.
From Salon ● Jul. 21, 2026
Now he’s looking for that kind of “momentum,” to solve this most stubborn of abuses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
The spraying is not only improperly planned but studded with abuses such as these.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
She digs into why it’s so appealing—and why it’s also become the most abused trope on BookTok.
From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2026
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he wanted to "forgive" protesters who abused him during recent youth-led demonstrations that dealt a rare political setback to his government.
From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026
“The trial court abused its discretion by considering incompetent evidence in support of the temporary injunction,” the three-judge panel wrote.
From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026
A California state bill seeks to remove abused and neglected animals from crowded municipal shelters during their owners’ criminal cases.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
Aureliano Segundo, ashamed, pretended an attack of rage, said that he was misunderstood and abused, and did not visit her again.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
In 1890, the North River Sugar Refining Corporation was dissolved by New York’s highest court on the grounds that it was abusing its power as a corporation.
From Salon ● Aug. 19, 2026
Flock cameras help police solve crimes, but cases of officers abusing their access to the technology for stalking raise concerns about privacy violations.
From Slate ● Aug. 13, 2026
The commission, the EU's antitrust regulator, had accused Google of abusing the popularity of its Android operating system to restrict competition.
From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026
Black denied ever abusing a woman, or being with an underage woman, or sex trafficking, or paying Epstein for access to women, or being blackmailed by him.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
I argued that police could improve public safety without abusing people.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
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.
