misuse
Americannoun
-
misuses
plural
-
wrong or improper use; misapplication.
- Synonyms:
- misappropriation, misemployment
-
Obsolete. bad or abusive treatment.
verb (used with object)
-
misuses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
misused,
past participle, past
-
misusing
present participle
-
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
-
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
-
have misusedperfect
-
has misusedperfect
-
am misusingprogressive
-
are misusingprogressive
-
is misusingprogressive
-
have been misusingperfect progressive
-
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.
See Examples For:
The misuse or abuse of the currency is an offence and may attract sanctions under the law,'' she said.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
“It can’t just be like, ‘take it away and then we’re going to be a safer city,’ because we’ve never had a problem or a complaint or a misuse in our city.”
From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2026
Similarly, Amodei called on nations to put aside their differences to confront the “global threat” of AI misuse.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026
Senate it has tightened requirements for users to search its database of license plates amid concerns about misuse.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
What the warders did not tell us was that Vorster resigned as a result of press revelations about the Department of Information’s misuse of government funds.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
Under current law, queries are reported annually to Congress so misuses of the program are identified.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 13, 2026
Yet one doesn’t need an AI bot to explain why Grammarly’s stunt has to rank among the sleaziest misuses of AI technology yet to appear.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 17, 2026
Safeguards will be in place to ensure victims of sexual crime are not identified and anyone who misuses the footage could face contempt of court proceedings.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2025
In this special, Oprah Winfrey sits down with doctors to discuss the benefits of these drugs, particularly in combating the obesity epidemic in the United States, and their potential misuses.
From New York Times ● Mar. 18, 2024
Only some unhappy bard, who dubs us women 'The angels of life,' and misuses us vilely through a dozen cantos of halting verse.
From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland Volume 4 by Various
The lengthy report lists cases in which suspected state-sponsored groups, criminals, spyware vendors, state propaganda institutions and politically motivated individuals misused its technology.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
If you were found to have acted recklessly with her money or investments, engaged in self-dealing, or otherwise misused estate or trust assets, you could face serious legal consequences.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026
A group of seven states also challenged the TotalEnergies agreement in court, arguing that the deal misused government funds and failed to follow proper administrative procedures.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
That would give the U.S. influence over the Saudi nuclear program and, Trump administration officials argue, a way to prevent it from being misused for military purposes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
Maybe yesterday was all a dream, or maybe the power has left me since I misused it?
From "Clairboyance" by Kristiana Kahakauwila
The arrests are the biggest enforcement of the law against misusing the currency.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
A Lufkin officer was indicted Aug. 24 on 100 counts of misusing official information, which Abbott cited as a concerning development during a Friday radio interview.
From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2026
PARIS—An appeals court ruled that Marine Le Pen is eligible to run in next year’s presidential election, despite being found guilty of misusing European Parliament funds, reviving the far-right leader’s political fortunes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
In this age of fairness and reason, it’s hard to imagine a government official misusing power to keep secrets, but I’m told it happens.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026
My mother said we were misusing the word; you could not call a Kleenex kira-kira.
From "Kira-Kira" by Cynthia Kadohata
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.
