English

Adjective

abusive ‎(comparative more abusive, superlative most abusive)

1. Wrongly used; perverted; misapplied; unjust; illegal. [First attested in the mid 16^th century.]^[3]
   • (Can we date this quote?), Fuller, (Please provide the title of the work):

     I am ... necessitated to use the word Parliament improperly, according to the abusive acceptation thereof.

2. (archaic) Catachrestic. [First attested in the mid 16^th century.]^[3]
3. (archaic) Full of abuses; practicing abuse; containing abuse, or serving as the instrument of abuse. [First attested in the late 16^th century.]^[3]
   • 1589, Thomas Nashe, The Anatomy of Absurdity:

     ...to begin in this vacation the foundation of a trifling subject which might shroud in his leaves the abusive enormities of these our times.

4. Prone to ill treat by coarse, insulting words or by other ill usage; vituperative; reproachful; scurrilous. [First attested in the early 17^th century.]^[3]
   • (Can we date this quote?), Samuel Johnson, A dictionary of the English language:

     An abusive lampoon.

5. (obsolete) Tending to deceive; fraudulent. [Attested only from the early to mid 17^th century.]^[3]
   • (Can we date this quote?), Francis Bacon, (Please provide the title of the work):

     An abusive treaty.

6. (archaic) Given to misusing; also, full of abuses.
   • (Can we date this quote?), Hallam, (Please provide the title of the work):

     The abusive prerogatives of his see.

7. (obsolete) Given to misusing. [Attested only in the mid 17^th century.]^[3]
8. Being physically injurious; characterized by repeated violence.

Synonyms

• reproachful, scurrilous, opprobrious, insolent, insulting, injurious, offensive, reviling, berating, vituperative

Derived terms

• abusively
• abusiveness

Translations

References

1. ↑ Laurence Urdang (editor), The Random House College Dictionary (Random House, 1984 [1975], ISBN 0-394-43600-8), page 6
2. ↑ Philip Babcock Gove (editor), Webster's Third International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged (G. & C. Merriam Co., 1976 [1909], ISBN 0-87779-101-5), page 8
3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lesley Brown (editor), The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, 5th edition (Oxford University Press, 2003 [1933], ISBN 978-0-19-860575-7), page 10

French

Adjective

abusive

1. feminine singular of abusif

Italian

Adjective

abusive f pl

1. feminine plural of abusivo

Latin

Adjective

abūsīve

1. vocative masculine singular of abūsīvus

References

• abusive in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press