Meaning of misuse in English

misuse
verb [ T ]
us

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/ˌmɪsˈjuːz/ uk

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/ˌmɪsˈjuːz/
C1
to use something in an unsuitable way or in a way that was not intended:
She was accused of misusing company funds.
Synonym
misapply
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Using and misusing
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misuse
noun [ C or U ]
us

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/ˌmɪsˈjuːs/ uk

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/ˌmɪsˈjuːs/
C1
an occasion when something is used in an unsuitable way or in a way that was not intended:
This new computer system is completely unnecessary and a misuse of taxpayers' money.
the misuse of power/drugs
Compare
abuse noun
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Using and misusing
See more results »
(Definition of misuse from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

misuse | Intermediate English

misuse
verb [ T ]
us

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/mɪsˈjuz/
to use something in an unsuitable way or in a way that was not intended:
She’s been accused of misusing federal funds to pay for her son’s private school expenses.

misuse

noun [ C/U ] us

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/mɪsˈjus/
[ C ] This new computer system is completely unnecessary and a misuse of taxpayers’ money.
(Definition of misuse from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

misuse | Business English

misuse
noun [ C or U ]
uk

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/ˌmɪsˈjuːs/ us

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the act of using something wrongly or in a dishonest way:
There are new rules about mobile phone use at work, and new penalties for misuse.
misuse of sth The directors were charged with misuse of funds.
a blatant misuse of power
credit card/computer/internet misuse
misuse
verb [ T ]
uk

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/ˌmɪsˈjuːz/ us

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to use something wrongly or in a dishonest way:
misuse assets/funds/money He was accused of misusing $2.4 million in union funds.
misuse your office/position/power Her opponents claim that she misused her position.
(Definition of misuse from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of misuse

misuse
His trial on charges of misusing state fundsis ongoing.
From Foreign Policy
It has nothing to do with the stories about teachers misusing their positions of trust to take advantage of students.
From Huffington Post
On the other hand, there is skyrocketing misuse of opioid pain medicines resulting in death and addiction.
From Chicago Daily Herald
And, as horrifying as his message is, his skill as a performer is remarkable (which renders his misuse of his talent all the more dismaying).
From The New Yorker
Parkland is not alone in misusing force on extremely vulnerable people.
From Dallas Morning News
We don't have evidence of credit card misuse at this time.
From Ars Technica
Patients who are prone to addiction are typically those who have histories of emotional trauma, mental illness or prior substance misuse.
From TIME
Misusing the military this way just wastes our time and money.
From CNN
But the barriers to appropriate care go beyond the issue of painkiller misuse.
From TIME
The police came and arrested her for misusing the emergency service.
From Huffington Post
Fears that trucking companies could misuse their expanded awareness of where their drivers are and what they are doing have already been expressed in court.
From The Atlantic
The problem with the widespread availability of this information is that it can be misused.
From Huffington Post
How are we supposed to investigate misuse of foreign aid when we aren't allowed to know what violations have occurred?
From Washington Times
Even in developed countries, people don't understand how antibiotics are supposed to be used, or misuse them anyway.
From Business Insider
The administration has had a tendency to misuse and/or underestimate its leverage in some of its most important bilateral relationships.
From The Atlantic
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Translations of misuse

in Chinese (Traditional)
錯用，誤用, 濫用, 盜用…
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in Chinese (Simplified)
错用，误用, 滥用, 盗用…
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in Spanish
usar incorrectamente [singular]…
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in Portuguese
mau uso [masculine], abuso [masculine]…
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in more languages
in Turkish
in French
in Czech
in Danish
in Indonesian
in Thai
in Vietnamese
in Polish
in Malay
in German
in Norwegian
in Ukrainian
in Russian
in Italian
yanlış/hatalı kullanmak, kötü amaçlar için kullanmak, suistimal…
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usage [masculine] impropre, mauvais usage, abus…
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špatné použití, špatně (po)užívat, špatně zacházet…
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misbrug, misbruge, mishandle…
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penyalahgunaan, menggunakan secara salah, memperlakukan dengan buruk…
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การใช้ในทางที่ผิด, ใช้ในทางที่ผิด, ใช้อย่างหนัก…
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lạm dụng, sử dụng sai, ngược đãi…
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nadużywać…
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salah guna, menyalahgunakan, menyalahperlakukan…
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der Missbrauch, missbrauchen, misshandeln…
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feil bruk [masculine], misbruk [masculine], misbruk…
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неправильне вживання, неправильно вживати, погано ставитися…
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злоупотреблять…
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cattivo uso, uso scorretto, fare cattivo uso di…
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mistype
misunderstand
misunderstanding
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