Abuse

/əˈbjuːs/ · noun

Meaning

Improper treatment or usage; application to a wrong or bad purpose; an unjust, corrupt or wrongful practice or custom..

Definitions by Sense

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. (obsolete) A delusion; an imposture; misrepresentation; deception.
4. Coarse, insulting speech; abusive language; language that unjustly or angrily vilifies.
5. (now rare) 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.
8. (transitive) To put to a wrong use; to misapply; to use improperly; to use for a wrong purpose or end; to pervert

Example Sentences

human rights abuses

All abuse, whether physical, verbal, psychological or sexual, is bad.

Dickens was careful to castigate abuses which were being reformed.

Liberty may be endangered by the abuses of liberty, as well as by the abuses of power.

Few concepts are as emotionally charged as that of race. The word conjures up a mixture of associations—culture, ethnicity, genetics, subjugation, exclusion and persecution. But is the tragic history of efforts to define groups of people by race really a matter of the misuse of science, the abuse of a valid biological concept?

RDG explains: "From April 1 2026, the following tickets, Anytime, Off-Peak, Day Travelcards and most Ranger and Rover tickets, will no longer be refundable on the day they become valid for travel." It calls the £40m it thinks it loses "refund abuse", which it explains as "refunds on tickets that have been used but not scanned or endorsed, where a customer falsely states that they did not travel". I'm sure such abuse takes place (and that it's done by passengers). But RDG is taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut and punishing many millions of honest passengers by making tickets more restrictive.

Or is it some abuse, and no such thing?

children hurling abuse at each other

Synonyms for abuse

Antonyms for abuse

Related Words

Word Forms

• abuses
• abusing
• abused

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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