English Explanatory Dictionary

abuse

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Improper treatment or usage; application to a wrong or bad purpose; an unjust, corrupt or wrongful practice or custom.
  2. Misuse; improper use; perversion.
  3. A delusion; an imposture; misrepresentation; deception.
  4. Coarse, insulting speech; abusive language; language that unjustly or angrily vilifies.
  5. Catachresis.
  6. Physical maltreatment; injury; cruel treatment.
  7. Violation; defilement; rape; forcing of undesired sexual activity by one person on another, often on a repeated basis.
verb
  1. To put to a wrong use; to misapply; to use improperly; to use for a wrong purpose or end; to pervert
  2. To injure; to maltreat; to hurt; to treat with cruelty, especially repeatedly.
  3. To attack with coarse language; to insult; to revile; malign; to speak in an offensive manner to or about someone; to disparage.
  4. To imbibe a drug for a purpose other than it was intended; to intentionally take more of a drug than was prescribed for recreational reasons; to take illegal drugs habitually.
  5. To violate; defile; to rape; (reflexive) to masturbate.
  6. Misrepresent; adulterate.
  7. To deceive; to trick; to impose on; misuse the confidence of.
  8. Disuse.

Pronunciation

/əˈbjuːs/ əbyo͞os' /əˈbjus/ en-us-abuse-noun.ogg /əˈbjʉs/ /əˈbjuːz/ /əˈbjuz/ əbyo͞oz' en-us-abuse-verb.ogg

Word forms

abuse abuses abusing abused

Etymology

From Middle English abusen, then from either Old French abus (“improper use”), or from Latin abūsus (“misused, using up”), perfect active participle of abūtor (“make improper use of, consume, abuse”), from ab (“away”) + ūtor (“to use”). Equivalent to ab- + use.

Synonyms

abusage invective contumely reproach scurrility insult opprobrium abusio maltreat injure abuse annoy bewound damage damnify dere do damage to do for do ill do violence to forwork grieve harm harrow hurt maul misdo put someone in hospital scaith scathe vulnerate wet wound afflict aggrieve do evil do harm ill-treat ill-use make mischief mistreat molest oppress outrage overburden pain persecute run down trample on tread on weigh down weigh heavy on misuse vitriol vituperate affront burn carry cut down disrespect

Related words

abusive abusively abusiveness

Derived words

abuse excuse abuseful abusefully abuseless abusement abuse of discretion abuse of distress abuse of notation abuse of process abuse-ridden admin abuse alcohol abuse antiabuse child abuse dog's abuse drug abuse elder abuse overabuse polyabuse racket abuse re-abuse ritual abuse satanic ritual abuse self-abuse sex abuse sexual abuse solvent abuse substance abuse tech abuse abusability abusable abusage abusee abuser abusingly coabuse disabuse reabuse unabuse unabusing

Translations

Arabic: اِسَاءَة اِسْتِخْدَام Arabic: سوء استخدام Armenian: չարաշահում Azerbaijani: sui-istifadə Belarusian: злаўжы́так Belarusian: злоўжыва́нне Bulgarian: злоупотре́ба Catalan: abús Chinese Mandarin: 濫權 /滥权 Chinese Mandarin: 濫用 /滥用 Danish: misbrug Danish: vanrøgt Finnish: väärinkäyttö French: abus Galician: abuso German: Missbrauch Greek: κατάχρηση Hebrew: ניצול לרעה Hindi: दुरूपयोग Hungarian: visszaélés Indonesian: penyalahgunaan Italian: abuso Japanese: 濫用 Korean: 남용 Korean: 람용 Latin: abūsiō Malay: penyalahgunaan Maltese: abbuż Māori: raukotinga Norwegian Bokmål: misbruk Norwegian Nynorsk: misbruk Polish: nadużycie Portuguese: abuso Romanian: abuz Russian: злоупотребле́ние Serbo-Croatian: злоупотреба Serbo-Croatian: zloupotreba Spanish: abuso Swedish: missbruk Tagalog: abuso Turkish: istismar Turkish: suistimal Ukrainian: зловжива́ння Volapük: migeb
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