sexual abuse

American  

[sek-shoo-uhl uh-byoos] / ˈsɛk ʃu əl əˈbjus /

noun

1. nonconsensual touching of a person for one’s own sexual gratification or for the sexual gratification of someone else, especially when the nonconsenting party is a child.

   When children experience sexual abuse, it is rarely a stranger perpetrating the crime, but more commonly an authority figure or other adult they know.

---

sexual abuse Cultural  

1. Unwanted sexual activity forced on a person by another through coercion or threats.

---

Etymology

Origin of sexual abuse

First recorded in 1875–80 in the sense “masturbation”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sexual abuse

Joanne Barnes is the chief executive of Nexus - a charity which supports victims of domestic and sexual abuse.

From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2026

Pope Leo XIV will give an unprecedented address on Monday to the Spanish parliament and is set to meet with victims of sexual abuse by clergy.

From Barron's ● Jun. 8, 2026

Federal juries in both cases found in favor of Carroll, awarding her $83 million in the defamation case and $5 million in the sexual abuse one.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026

It was a post-#MeToo law, the Adult Survivors Act, that allowed the journalist and advice columnist E. Jean Carroll to bring her civil sexual abuse case against Trump.

From Salon ● Apr. 19, 2026

It didn't appear that emotional trauma or abuse was bedizened as sexual abuse in a display to get others to empathize with her tattered past.

From Tokyo to Tijuana: Gabriele Departing America by Sills, Steven (Steven David Justin)

Related Words

• exploitation
• impropriety
• intimidation
• victimization