abusive
adjective
abu·sive
ə-ˈbyü-siv 
also -ziv
1
a
: using harsh, insulting language
an angry and abusive crowd
b
: harsh and insulting
abusive language
c
: using or involving physical violence or emotional cruelty
abusive behavior
an abusive husband
an abusive relationship
2
: characterized by wrong or improper use or action
abusively
adverb
abusiveness
noun
Synonyms
Examples of abusive in a Sentence
The fans yelled abusive comments to the referee.
protecting wives from abusive husbands
Recent Examples on the Web
With a clever title style playing on ‘over’ and ‘L’ for love, the drama thriller explores how and why abusive control, sometimes mistaken for love, can be the greatest danger in a relationship, and what if ‘the one’ is the one who could destroy you?’, reads the logline.
—
Annika Pham, Variety, 6 Apr. 2024
Clark had been arrested for filing a bogus class action lawsuit against her abusive husband, court documents said.
—Cara Tabachnick, CBS News, 5 Apr. 2024
In 2016, the father claimed that Hall was mentally unstable and was psychologically abusive to the children.
—Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, Fox News, 5 Apr. 2024
Angelina Jolie alleges, via lawyers in a new court filing, that ex Brad Pitt was abusive toward her prior to the 2016 plane incident that led her to filing for divorce.
—Benjamin Vanhoose, Peoplemag, 4 Apr. 2024
Much of that support disintegrated after Republican lawmakers accepted, and then quickly rejected, an effort to broaden the bill to criminalize other forms of reproductive coercion – including abusive control of a woman’s contraceptives.
—Jenna Barackman, Kansas City Star, 1 Apr. 2024
The complaint also accuses MPS of failing to train or supervise district employees to prevent discriminatory and abusive conduct.
—Drake Bentley, Journal Sentinel, 26 Mar. 2024
The second act, in particular, is mired by the dreary love triangle between Jacob, Marlena and her abusive husband (Paul Alexander Nolan), although the compelling McCalla tries her damnedest with the little that her leading men give her.
—Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY, 22 Mar. 2024
This month, a company engineer sent letters to the board, lawmakers and the Federal Trade Commission warning that Microsoft wasn’t doing enough to safeguard its AI image generation tool from creating abusive and violent content.
—Dina Bass, Fortune, 19 Mar. 2024
Annika Pham, Variety, 6 Apr. 2024
Clark had been arrested for filing a bogus class action lawsuit against her abusive husband, court documents said.
—Cara Tabachnick, CBS News, 5 Apr. 2024
In 2016, the father claimed that Hall was mentally unstable and was psychologically abusive to the children.
—Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, Fox News, 5 Apr. 2024
Angelina Jolie alleges, via lawyers in a new court filing, that ex Brad Pitt was abusive toward her prior to the 2016 plane incident that led her to filing for divorce.
—Benjamin Vanhoose, Peoplemag, 4 Apr. 2024
Much of that support disintegrated after Republican lawmakers accepted, and then quickly rejected, an effort to broaden the bill to criminalize other forms of reproductive coercion – including abusive control of a woman’s contraceptives.
—Jenna Barackman, Kansas City Star, 1 Apr. 2024
The complaint also accuses MPS of failing to train or supervise district employees to prevent discriminatory and abusive conduct.
—Drake Bentley, Journal Sentinel, 26 Mar. 2024
The second act, in particular, is mired by the dreary love triangle between Jacob, Marlena and her abusive husband (Paul Alexander Nolan), although the compelling McCalla tries her damnedest with the little that her leading men give her.
—Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY, 22 Mar. 2024
This month, a company engineer sent letters to the board, lawmakers and the Federal Trade Commission warning that Microsoft wasn’t doing enough to safeguard its AI image generation tool from creating abusive and violent content.
—Dina Bass, Fortune, 19 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'abusive.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near abusive
Cite this Entry
“Abusive.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/abusive. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
abusive
adjective
abu·sive
ə-ˈbyü-siv
-ziv
: using or characterized by abuse
abusively
adverb
abusiveness
noun
Legal Definition
abusive
adjective
abu·sive
ə-ˈbyü-siv, -ziv
1
: characterized by wrong or improper use or action
abusive tax shelters
2
: inflicting verbal or physical abuse
abusive parents
abusively
adverb
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