ill-use

[verb il-yooz; noun il-yoos]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR ill-use ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), ill-used, ill-us·ing.

to treat badly, unjustly, cruelly, etc.

noun

Also ill-us·age. bad, unjust, or cruel treatment.

Origin of ill-use

First recorded in 1835–45

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for ill-use

For them, who now ill-use you, you have gone through life but half a man.
Long Live the King|Mary Roberts Rinehart
Oh, probably because she can ill-use it to her heart's content.
Woman and Artist|Max O'Rell
That little men should have ventured to ill-use you, has hurt your pride.
The Duke's Children|Anthony Trollope
He was Costantino's guardian; the boy had some money of his own, his uncle spent it all, and then began to ill-use him.
After the Divorce|Grazia Deledda

There was nobody to tease or ill-use him, and he was never ill.
The Little Lame Prince|Miss Mulock--Pseudonym of Maria Dinah Craik

British Dictionary definitions for ill-use

ill-use

verb (ˈɪlˈjuːz)

to use badly or cruelly; abuse; maltreat

noun (ˈɪlˈjuːs) ill-usage

harsh or cruel treatment; abuse

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

ill-use

verb (used with object), ill-used, ill-us·ing.

noun

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Origin of ill-use

Examples from the Web for ill-use

ill-use

verb (ˈɪlˈjuːz)

noun (ˈɪlˈjuːs) ill-usage