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
-
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
-
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:
Ironically, Musk actually missed one of the biggest areas of waste, fraud and abuse in the entire system.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
Critics have accused the program of being riddled with fraud and abuse.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
A report by the UK's first working group focused on rural inequality and domestic abuse said rural domestic abuse victims were being failed.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 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
To call the flatcar a coach was an abuse of the word.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
Dana Cleaveley, a research consultant formerly with SeaChoice, a Canadian sustainable-seafood group, said that many industries have already had to begin reckoning with the human rights and environmental abuses buried in their supply chains.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
"This is no time to return anyone forcibly to a country plagued by egregious human rights violations and abuses," UN rights chief Volker Turk said Tuesday.
From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026
Yes, there have been abuses around the country, just as there have been in any government or private workplace where confidential information might be misused.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026
His supporters say he was targeted for blogging about alleged human rights abuses against the Sikh community in India and was coerced into signing a false confession to participation in the killings.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
But countless abuses had stretched the vertical fibers apart and weakened the horizontal ones beyond use.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
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
The Football Association of Ireland is investigating whether forward Adam Idah was racially abused by Israel supporters during Sunday's 3-0 Uefa Nations League victory for the Republic of Ireland.
From BBC ● Sep. 28, 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
And Petey, not wanting to appear weak and abused in front of Anna, smiled as if he was in on the gag.
From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles
Cristian Mungiu’s ‘Fjord’ follows a Romanian-Norwegian couple accused of abusing their children, placing clashing cultural values at the center of a courtroom drama.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
While more than 90% of over 2,000 respondents supported the ban, there were some concerns over the police and other authorised officers abusing the powers.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
I have read and replied to many cautionary tales about people abusing their responsibilities.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 2026
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
But after he left Miss Ransom’s house and stood for a half hour watching Bud and C.T. abusing each other at checkers, he decided to check Sheila out right fast and quit for the day.
From "Jazz" by Toni Morrison
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.
