abusing

verb

Definition of abusingnext
present participle of abuse
1
as in bullying
to inflict physical or emotional harm upon if you abuse your pet, he will always have an ugly disposition

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in attacking
to criticize harshly and usually publicly a demanding, difficult patient who constantly abuses the nurses and aides

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in misusing
to put to a bad or improper use if you abuse your baseball bat by using it to hammer nails, don't expect it to last long

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in exploiting
to take unfair advantage of abused his parents' trust, pilfering small amounts from them that he hoped they wouldn't notice

Synonyms & Similar Words

Examples Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for abusing
  1. bullying
  2. attacking
  3. exploiting
  4. slamming
  5. using
  6. violating
  7. manipulating
  8. injuring
Verb
  • Features with children at the core – usually included in the festival’s Just Film section dedicated to children and youth – are also part of the official selection through stories of bullying at school and children’s rights, among others.
    Annika Pham, Variety, 19 Oct. 2024
  • This approach helps children understand that real empowerment comes from positive actions towards others, not from bullying.
    Mark Travers, Forbes, 18 Oct. 2024
Definition of bullying
Verb
  • Some of the Israeli fans added to the tensions, Holla said, by attacking a taxi Wednesday as well as a Palestinian flag.
    Corky Siemaszko, NBC News, 8 Nov. 2024
  • The new boss quickly set about completely overhauling the team and their approach, instilling an aggressive, attacking mindset which had been sorely lacking in previous seasons.
    Adam Digby, Forbes, 21 Oct. 2024
Definition of attacking
Verb
  • Toxic leaders, on the other hand, use emotions as a weapon—exploiting vulnerabilities, guilt-tripping, or emotionally blackmailing employees into compliance.
    Benjamin Laker, Forbes, 1 Oct. 2024
  • And where there are gaps in science, people can make money and gain attention by exploiting the public’s understanding.
    Keren Landman, Vox, 7 Dec. 2018
Definition of exploiting
Verb
  • Last Island hurricane The Last Island hurricane killed 400 people after slamming into the Louisiana coast in August 1856.
    Gina Martinez, CBS News, 2 Oct. 2024
  • Employees did not respond well to visits from their managers, with some planning to call the police or slamming the door on their supervisors.
    Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 30 Sep. 2024
Definition of slamming
Verb
  • The committee, using information from the Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System, estimated four families would be eligible for the new benefit each year.
    Stacey Barchenger, The Arizona Republic, 4 Oct. 2024
  • These scouts also pioneered using ghillie suits as battlefield camouflage (another common piece of gear for modern snipers).
    Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, 4 Oct. 2024
Definition of using
Verb
  • Angel City also received a $20,000 cash fine, plus a loss of $20,000 in unfunded allocation money, in 2021 for violating the NWSL’s tampering policy regarding then-Gotham player Allie Long.
    Dan Bernstein, Sportico.com, 4 Oct. 2024
  • Haley was acquitted of violating Nichols’ civil rights causing death, but convicted of the lesser charge of violating his civil rights causing bodily injury.
    Adrian Sainz, TIME, 4 Oct. 2024
Definition of violating
Verb
  • This can also prevent an attacker from manipulating stack variables to gain code execution.
    Davey Winder, Forbes, 4 Oct. 2024
  • Some are of a distinctly violent nature, while others get under our skin for manipulating their children and abusing their power.
    Clark Collis, EW.com, 1 Oct. 2024
Definition of manipulating
Verb
  • The strikes come after Ukraine launched its largest drone attack on Moscow since the Kremlin's full-scale invasion began in 2022, injuring one person and forcing three major airports to divert flights.
    Freddie Clayton, NBC News, 11 Nov. 2024
  • Ukraine launched its largest drone attack on the Russian capital city of Moscow since the full-scale war began in 2022, injuring one person and forcing three major airports to divert flights, as Russia fired an unprecedented 145 drones against Ukraine.
    Freddie Clayton, NBC News, 10 Nov. 2024
Definition of injuring
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Thesaurus Entries Near abusing

abuses

abusing

abusive

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Abusing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/abusing. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.

Copy Citation

Share

More from Merriam-Webster on abusing

Nglish: Translation of abusing for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of abusing for Arabic Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See All

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

Plural and Possessive Names: A Guide

The Difference Between 'i.e.' and 'e.g.'

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See All

Popular in Wordplay

See All

8 Words with Fascinating Histories

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments

Birds Say the Darndest Things

10 Words from Taylor Swift Songs (Merriam's Version)

10 Scrabble Words Without Any Vowels
See All

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
silhouette of a man with a megaphone against a british flag
Another Great British Vocabulary Quiz, Innit? A double-decker quiz with words from across the pond