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PlainSpell

abuse

ab·use/əˈbjus/noun, verb

abuse is spelled A-B-U-S-E: 5 letters and 2 syllables (ab·use). It appears 46 times per million words in written English, the 2,204th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, abuse means “Improper treatment or usage; application to a wrong or bad purpose; an unjust, corrupt or wrongful practice or custom” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of abuse is abuses.

How many letters and syllables are in abuse?

Letters5: A-B-U-S-E
Syllables2: ab·use
In writing46 times per million words; the 2,204th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is abuse?

Abuse appears 46 times per million words in written English, the 2,204th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce abuse?

  • UK /əˈbjuːs/
  • British /əˈbjʉws/
  • US /əˈbjus/

As a verb (“To put to a wrong use; to misapply; to use improperly; to…”): /əˈbjuːz/, /əˈbjuz/.

Abuse has 2 syllables, split ab·use in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-abuse-noun.ogg, En-us-abuse-verb.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with abuse?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as abuse from its last stressed vowel (/us/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of abuse

  • abuses plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • abusing participle, present
  • abused participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does abuse mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    Improper treatment or usage; application to a wrong or bad purpose; an unjust, corrupt or wrongful practice or custom.

    human rights abuses

  2. 2

    Misuse; improper use; perversion.

  3. 3

    obsoleteA delusion; an imposture; misrepresentation; deception.

  4. 4

    Coarse, insulting speech; abusive language; language that unjustly or angrily vilifies.

    children hurling abuse at each other

  5. 5

    archaicCatachresis.

  6. 6

    Physical maltreatment; injury; cruel treatment.

  7. 7

    Violation; defilement; rape; forcing of undesired sexual activity by one person on another, often on a repeated basis.

verb

  1. 1

    To put to a wrong use; to misapply; to use improperly; to use for a wrong purpose or end; to pervert

    He abused his authority.

  2. 2

    To injure; to maltreat; to hurt; to treat with cruelty, especially repeatedly.

  3. 3

    To attack with coarse language; to insult; to revile; malign; to speak in an offensive manner to or about someone; to disparage.

    So we were angered by this and we could not tolerate this one because prophet Mohammed has been abused so many times in this country. Awolowo abused him sometimes ago saying that he was more successful and popular that Mohammed and Jesus.

  4. 4

    To imbibe a drug for a purpose other than it was intended; to intentionally take more of a drug than was prescribed for recreational reasons; to take illegal drugs habitually.

  5. 5

    archaicTo violate; defile; to rape; (reflexive) to masturbate.

  6. 6

    obsoleteMisrepresent; adulterate.

  7. 7

    obsoleteTo deceive; to trick; to impose on; misuse the confidence of.

  8. 8

    ScotlandobsoleteDisuse.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Abuse in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchabus (corrupt practice), insulte, offense, injure (insulting speech), abuser (to use improperly)
GermanMissbrauch (corrupt practice), Beschimpfung, Schmähung, Beleidigung (insulting speech), missbrauchen (to use improperly), Misshandlung (physical maltreatment)
Portugueseabuso (corrupt practice), abusar (to use improperly), insultar, ultrajar, afrontar, ofender (to insult)
Spanishabuso (improper usage), abuso sexual (sexual violation or assault), abusar (to hurt), violar (to rape), engañar (to deceive)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does abuse come from?

From Middle English abusen, then from either Old French abus (“improper use”), or from Latin abūsus (“misused, using up”), perfect active participle of abūtor (“make improper use of, consume, abuse”), from ab (“away”) + ūtor (“to use”). Equivalent to ab- + use.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after abuse