abuse
/əˈbjus/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.66 in modern English
7
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Improper treatment or usage; application to a wrong or bad purpose; an unjust, corrupt or wrongful practice or custom.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
Coarse, insulting speech; abusive language; language that unjustly or angrily vilifies.
Countable; Uncountable
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."
Etymology
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /əˈbjus/
- British English: /əˈbjuːs/