abuse

/əˈbjuːs/ noun

Definition

WRONG USE [C, U] › when something is used for the wrong purpose in a way that is harmful or morally wrong: drug/alcohol abuse abuse of public money

VIOLENCE [U] › violent, cruel treatment of someone: child abuse sexual abuse

LANGUAGE [U] › rude and offensive words said to another person: Rival fans shouted abuse at each other.

(Definition of abuse noun from the Cambridge Learner's Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Browse the Dictionary

abstinence noun
abstract adjective
absurd adjective
abundance noun
abundant adjective
abuse noun
abuse verb
abusive adjective
abysmal adjective
abyss noun
abyssal adjective

Browse the Thesaurus

Business
Clothes
Education
Finance
Light and colour
Personal care

“abuse” in other dictionaries

in Spanish
in Turkish

British English
American English
Business English

More Results for “abuse”

abuse verb
child abuse noun
open to abuse/criticism, etc, at open adjective
hurl abuse/insults, etc at sb, at hurl verb
a volley of abuse/complaints, etc, at volley noun

See all results »

Word of the Day

demur

to express disagreement or refuse to do something

Word of the Day ►

Blog

Read our blog about how the English language behaves.

Learn More ►

New Words

Find words and meanings that have just started to be used in English, and let us know what you think of them.