Abusive
adjective
Using hurtful or offensive language or actions towards someone.
Her father was very abusive when he drank alcohol.
Often appears as...
- abusive behavior
- abusive relationship
Usage tips
Disapproving
adjective
Characterized by improper or incorrect use or application.
The abusive use of power can lead to many societal problems.
Often appears as...
- abusive use
- abusive practice
Usage tips
Disapproving
adjective
Using hurtful or offensive language or actions towards someone.
Her father was very abusive when he drank alcohol.
Often appears as...
- abusive behavior
- abusive relationship
Usage tips
Disapproving
adjective
Characterized by improper or incorrect use or application.
The abusive use of power can lead to many societal problems.
Often appears as...
- abusive use
- abusive practice
Usage tips
Disapproving
Definition 1 of 2
Pro Tip 1/3Negative Emotion
Abusive indicates strong negative feelings and harm, often in a personal or emotional context.
The manager's abusive comments upset all the employees.
Pro Tip 2/3Beyond Insulting
Abusive goes beyond general insult, implying aggressive and potentially damaging behavior.
Her abusive ex-partner would constantly belittle her.
Pro Tip 3/3Power Dynamics
When abusive involves authority figures, it suggests misuse of power in harmful ways.
The teacher was dismissed for his abusive conduct towards students.
Pro Tip 1/3Negative Emotion
Abusive indicates strong negative feelings and harm, often in a personal or emotional context.
The manager's abusive comments upset all the employees.
Pro Tip 2/3Beyond Insulting
Abusive goes beyond general insult, implying aggressive and potentially damaging behavior.
Her abusive ex-partner would constantly belittle her.
Pro Tip 3/3Power Dynamics
When abusive involves authority figures, it suggests misuse of power in harmful ways.
The teacher was dismissed for his abusive conduct towards students.
Pro Tip 1/3Negative Emotion
Abusive indicates strong negative feelings and harm, often in a personal or emotional context.
The manager's abusive comments upset all the employees.
Pro Tip 2/3Beyond Insulting
Abusive goes beyond general insult, implying aggressive and potentially damaging behavior.
Her abusive ex-partner would constantly belittle her.
Pro Tip 3/3Power Dynamics
When abusive involves authority figures, it suggests misuse of power in harmful ways.
The teacher was dismissed for his abusive conduct towards students.
Compare with
contemptuousderogatoryinsultoffensiveopprobriousscornfulscurrilousvilifyvituperative
Never forget "Abusive"
Humans forget easily. That's why you should download WordUp: Smart reminders, word games, AI practice, and much more!
Video examples
Jackson Katz: Violence...
What's going on with men? Why do so many men rape women in our society and around the world? Why do so many men rape other men? What is going on with men? And then what is the role of the various institutions in our society that are helping to produce abusive men at pandemic rates? Because this isn't about individual perpetrators.
Video examples
What does this symbol...
are designed with that entire group in mind. So it's easy to see why in recent years people have begun to raise questions about whether the symbol is really appropriate for what it's meant to do. And it's not just about accuracy. It's common for people to become indignant, sometimes abusive,
Video examples
Eve Ensler: Suddenly, my...
I took more than my body had to offer. If I was tired, I drank more espressos. If I was afraid, I went to more dangerous places. Oh sure, sure, I had moments of appreciation of my body, the way an abusive parent can sometimes have a moment of kindness. My father was really kind to me
Video examples
The difference between...
Abusive relationships don't start out abusive. They start out exciting and exhilarating. There's an intensity of affection and emotion, a rush. It feels really good. You feel so lucky, like you've hit the jackpot. But in unhealthy love, these feelings shift over time
Video examples
Why domestic violence...
his dream job, and he said that he had quit his job because of me, because I had made him feel so safe and loved that he didn't need to prove himself on Wall Street anymore, and he just wanted to get out of the city and away from his abusive, dysfunctional family,
Video examples
Depression, the secret...
I wish I could stop the pain." Well, she was brought into this experimental protocol, and when I interviewed her six months later, she had taken a job working in childcare for the U.S. Navy, she had left the abusive husband, and she said to me,
Video examples
Sex for Disabled People...
it doesn't stop being abusive simply because the men are disabled if men are unable to have egalitarian and wanted sexual relationships with others I'm afraid it does not become okay that they then are abusive sexually asta knows his
Video examples
A video game that helps...
when I fell into an emotionally abusive relationship just a few years ago. He isolated me and left me feeling more alone than ever. It was the lowest point in my life, but it was also my wake-up call,
Video examples
How fire shapes...
burning there's a population explosion and a lot of those fires are really nasty and damaging and abusive but then eventually the new order begins to establish itself by technological
Video examples
The beauty of being a...
Who was I? I'll tell you. I was a misfit. Like legions of other children, I came from an abusive household that I narrowly escaped with my life.
Video examples
Jackson Katz: Violence...
What's going on with men? Why do so many men rape women in our society and around the world? Why do so many men rape other men? What is going on with men? And then what is the role of the various institutions in our society that are helping to produce abusive men at pandemic rates? Because this isn't about individual perpetrators.
Video examples
What does this symbol...
are designed with that entire group in mind. So it's easy to see why in recent years people have begun to raise questions about whether the symbol is really appropriate for what it's meant to do. And it's not just about accuracy. It's common for people to become indignant, sometimes abusive,
Video examples
Eve Ensler: Suddenly, my...
I took more than my body had to offer. If I was tired, I drank more espressos. If I was afraid, I went to more dangerous places. Oh sure, sure, I had moments of appreciation of my body, the way an abusive parent can sometimes have a moment of kindness. My father was really kind to me
Video examples
The difference between...
Abusive relationships don't start out abusive. They start out exciting and exhilarating. There's an intensity of affection and emotion, a rush. It feels really good. You feel so lucky, like you've hit the jackpot. But in unhealthy love, these feelings shift over time
Video examples
Why domestic violence...
his dream job, and he said that he had quit his job because of me, because I had made him feel so safe and loved that he didn't need to prove himself on Wall Street anymore, and he just wanted to get out of the city and away from his abusive, dysfunctional family,
Video examples
Depression, the secret...
I wish I could stop the pain." Well, she was brought into this experimental protocol, and when I interviewed her six months later, she had taken a job working in childcare for the U.S. Navy, she had left the abusive husband, and she said to me,
Video examples
Sex for Disabled People...
it doesn't stop being abusive simply because the men are disabled if men are unable to have egalitarian and wanted sexual relationships with others I'm afraid it does not become okay that they then are abusive sexually asta knows his
Video examples
A video game that helps...
when I fell into an emotionally abusive relationship just a few years ago. He isolated me and left me feeling more alone than ever. It was the lowest point in my life, but it was also my wake-up call,
Video examples
How fire shapes...
burning there's a population explosion and a lot of those fires are really nasty and damaging and abusive but then eventually the new order begins to establish itself by technological
Video examples
The beauty of being a...
Who was I? I'll tell you. I was a misfit. Like legions of other children, I came from an abusive household that I narrowly escaped with my life.
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
Sarah Edmondson
Canadian Actress
One of the things that can be helpful in terms of an explanation is to look at the ways in which cults are similar to abusive relationships. Nobody seeks out an abusive partner, but so many people stay in these relationships longer than they should - they make excuses, they ignore red flags, and they allow themselves to be emotionally manipulated.
Quote examples
Ronnie Musgrove
American Politician
After my father died when I was seven and my mother entered into an abusive relationship, I shuffled between houses - staying with friends, families from church, and relying on the kindness of teachers and people throughout my community to help me grow up essentially without parents.
Quote examples
Mary J. Blige
American Musician
When someone comes up to me and says, 'Mary, you helped save my marriage', or, 'Mary, you helped me get out of this abusive relationship', I'm in it, really in their lives. And I'm so passionate about my feelings, but also about showing people the way through theirs.
Quote examples
Gloria Gaynor
American Musician
Well, I went through some emotionally abusive relationships and allowed myself to not be properly respected as a lady, as a human being even, though I tried everything I knew to be a lady.
Quote examples
Katelyn Ohashi
American Athlete
I have said that gymnastics can be abusive and brutal. That was my experience. I felt trapped in a world where authority figures were dictating my future.
Quote examples
Gary Lineker
English Footballer
I've heard things said on football pitches that players clearly don't mean, whether it's racism or just an abusive comment in the heat of the moment.
Quote examples
Pepa
American Musician
At the end of the day, your life is on the line when you're dealing with abusive men, and your life is more important than any man.
Quote examples
Jeremy Corbyn
British Politician
We are not doing celebrity, personality, abusive politics - we are doing ideas. This is about hope.
Quote examples
Kevyn Aucoin
American Artist
When I was growing up, the men in my life were abusive; women were the ones I ran to for comfort.
Quote examples
Richard Lewis
American Comedian
My family - it wasn't an abusive family - they meant well, but they were in their own world.
Quote examples
Sarah Edmondson
Canadian Actress
One of the things that can be helpful in terms of an explanation is to look at the ways in which cults are similar to abusive relationships. Nobody seeks out an abusive partner, but so many people stay in these relationships longer than they should - they make excuses, they ignore red flags, and they allow themselves to be emotionally manipulated.
Quote examples
Ronnie Musgrove
American Politician
After my father died when I was seven and my mother entered into an abusive relationship, I shuffled between houses - staying with friends, families from church, and relying on the kindness of teachers and people throughout my community to help me grow up essentially without parents.
Quote examples
Mary J. Blige
American Musician
When someone comes up to me and says, 'Mary, you helped save my marriage', or, 'Mary, you helped me get out of this abusive relationship', I'm in it, really in their lives. And I'm so passionate about my feelings, but also about showing people the way through theirs.
Quote examples
Gloria Gaynor
American Musician
Well, I went through some emotionally abusive relationships and allowed myself to not be properly respected as a lady, as a human being even, though I tried everything I knew to be a lady.
Quote examples
Katelyn Ohashi
American Athlete
I have said that gymnastics can be abusive and brutal. That was my experience. I felt trapped in a world where authority figures were dictating my future.
Quote examples
Gary Lineker
English Footballer
I've heard things said on football pitches that players clearly don't mean, whether it's racism or just an abusive comment in the heat of the moment.
Quote examples
Pepa
American Musician
At the end of the day, your life is on the line when you're dealing with abusive men, and your life is more important than any man.
Quote examples
Jeremy Corbyn
British Politician
We are not doing celebrity, personality, abusive politics - we are doing ideas. This is about hope.
Quote examples
Kevyn Aucoin
American Artist
When I was growing up, the men in my life were abusive; women were the ones I ran to for comfort.
Quote examples
Richard Lewis
American Comedian
My family - it wasn't an abusive family - they meant well, but they were in their own world.
Example 1 of 10
WordUp Chrome Extension
As you browse the web instantly look up words you don’t know.
Get Chrome Extension