misuse
Americannoun
-
wrong or improper use; misapplication.
- Synonyms:
- misappropriation, misemployment
-
Obsolete. bad or abusive treatment.
verb (used with object)
-
to use wrongly or improperly; misapply.
-
to treat badly or abusively; maltreat.
noun
-
erroneous, improper, or unorthodox use
misuse of words
-
cruel or inhumane treatment
verb
-
to use wrongly
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to treat badly or harshly
-
to use (something, esp alcohol, drugs, etc) improperly
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
misusesimple
-
misusessimple
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have misusedperfect
-
has misusedperfect
-
am misusingprogressive
-
are misusingprogressive
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is misusingprogressive
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have been misusingperfect progressive
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has been misusingperfect progressive
Past
-
misusedsimple
-
had misusedperfect
-
was misusingprogressive
-
were misusingprogressive
-
had been misusingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of misuse
Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at mis- 1, use
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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mis-
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Prefixes: 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.
It has been involved in a protracted legal dispute with its former chief executive, Christopher Joell-Deshields, who was sacked following an investigation into alleged misuse of vouchers donated by a sponsor.
From BBC • Jul. 4, 2026
There were 15 reported firework-related deaths nationwide in 2025, with most involving misuse and device misfire or malfunctions, according to the U.S.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 3, 2026
The government abruptly forced Anthropic to cut off access to its two cutting-edge artificial intelligence models on June 12 after discovering vulnerabilities in the safeguards put in place to prevent misuse of the tool.
From Barron's • Jul. 1, 2026
Waters, the prosecutor, pushed back, noting Murdaugh had previously lost access to a prison-issued tablet for misuse and had been convicted of more than a decade of fraud.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 29, 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.
