Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

sexual abuse

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.43 in modern English

Syllables: sex-u-al abuse
IPA

20

Scrabble Score

11

Letters

3

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Any sexual activity that is undesired by one participant but forced on them nonetheless, especially when considered to be more sustained or frequent than an incident of sexual assault.

Uncountable

Example Sentences

"Statutory-rape laws concerning voluntary intercourse would probably be taken off the books, though both young boys and young girls could still be protected against any sexual abuse by older persons."
"1987, Lou Sullivan, personal diary, quoted in 2019, Ellis Martin, Zach Ozma (editors), We Both Laughed In Pleasure I believe that I was the victim of sexual abuse in my relationship with T. It was always the way HE wanted it & I wasn't to do anything I wanted. So I just "submitted" to him & was glad that he would have anything to do with me."
"Argentine priest Julio Grassi begins 15-year sentence over sexual abuse."

Usage

Uncountable

Inflected Forms

sexual abuses (plural)

Phrases

child sexual abuse

Synonyms

sex abuse molestation sexual assault sex crime sex offense

Questions

What does sexual abuse mean?: Any sexual activity that is undesired by one participant but forced on them nonetheless, especially when considered to be more sustained or frequent than an incident of sexual assault.

How to pronounce sexual abuse

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “sexual abuse”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “sexual abuse”.
Repeat and practice — Say “sexual abuse” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.