abusive
/əˈbju.sɪv/adjective
abusive is spelled A-B-U-S-I-V-E: 7 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 7.4 times per million words in written English, the 8,669th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, abusive means “Prone to treat someone badly by coarse, insulting words or other maltreatment; vituperative; reproachful; scurrilous” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in abusive?
| Letters | 7: A-B-U-S-I-V-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 7.4 times per million words; the 8,669th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; 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 abusive?
Abusive appears 7.4 times per million words in written English, the 8,669th 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 abusive?
- UK /əˈbjuː.sɪv/
- US /əˈbju.sɪv/
- US /əˈbju.zɪv/
Abusive has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Mélange_a_trois-abusive.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with abusive?
7 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as abusive from its last stressed vowel (/usɪv/):
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 abusive
- more abusive comparative
- most abusive superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does abusive mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Prone to treat someone badly by coarse, insulting words or other maltreatment; vituperative; reproachful; scurrilous.
All they could ever do was to shout abusive inanities at me.
- 2
obsoleteTending to deceive; fraudulent.
- 3
archaicTending to misuse; practising or containing abuse.
- 4
Being physically or emotionally injurious; characterized by repeated violence or other abuse.
- 5
Wrongly used; perverted; misapplied; unjust; illegal.
- 6
archaicCatachrestic.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Abusive in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense practicing abuse:
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 abusive come from?
First attested in the 1530s. From French abusif, from Latin abūsīvus, from abusus + -ivus (“-ive”). Equivalent to abuse + -ive.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).