abuse

noun

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

Misuse; improper use; perversion.

Coarse, insulting speech; abusive language; language that unjustly or angrily vilifies.

Physical maltreatment; injury; cruel treatment.

Violation; defilement; rape; forcing of undesired sexual activity by one person on another, often on a repeated basis.

(obsolete) A delusion; an imposture; misrepresentation; deception.

(now rare) Catachresis.

verb

(transitive) To put to a wrong use; to misapply; to use improperly; to use for a wrong purpose or end; to pervert

(transitive) To injure; to maltreat; to hurt; to treat with cruelty, especially repeatedly.

(transitive) To attack with coarse language; to insult; to revile; malign; to speak in an offensive manner to or about someone; to disparage.

(transitive) 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.

(transitive, archaic) To violate; defile; to rape; (reflexive) to masturbate.

(transitive, obsolete) Misrepresent; adulterate.

(transitive, obsolete) To deceive; to trick; to impose on; misuse the confidence of.

(transitive, obsolete, Scotland) Disuse.

Roots

abab- · Latin · away from utor-us · Latin · use

Words related to abuse

clapperclawv abusivenessn abusern abusiveadj nonabusiveadj misusern ballyragv bullyragv harassmentn bullyingn victimizationn vilifiesv catachresticadj abusivelyadv misbehaviorn assaultsn overusen

Synonyms & related words for abuse

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of abuse — including maltreatment, misuse, revilement, maltreat, mistreat, vilification. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

Words related to abuse

Explore words related to abuse — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include clapperclaw, abusiveness, abuser, abusive, nonabusive, misuser, ballyrag, bullyrag. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Synonyms for abuse

Common synonyms for abuse include maltreatment, misuse, revilement, maltreat, mistreat, vilification, insult, mistreatment — words that share a close meaning. Hover or tap any word on the map for its definition and part of speech.

Where does abuse come from?

The word abuse breaks down into 2 roots of Latin origin: ab-, from Latin ab (“away from”); and -us, from Latin utor (“use”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.