(v. t.) To put to a wrong use; to misapply; to misuse; to put to a bad use; to use for a wrong purpose or end; to pervert; as, to abuse inherited gold; to make an excessive use of; as, to abuse one's authority.
(v. t.) To use ill; to maltreat; to act injuriously to; to punish or to tax excessively; to hurt; as, to abuse prisoners, to abuse one's powers, one's patience.
(v. t.) To revile; to reproach coarsely; to disparage.
(v. t.) To dishonor.
(v. t.) To violate; to ravish.
(v. t.) To deceive; to impose on.
(v. t.) Improper treatment or use; application to a wrong or bad purpose; misuse; as, an abuse of our natural powers; an abuse of civil rights, or of privileges or advantages; an abuse of language.
(v. t.) Physical ill treatment; injury.
(v. t.) A corrupt practice or custom; offense; crime; fault; as, the abuses in the civil service.
(v. t.) Violation; rape; as, abuse of a female child.
Example Sentences:
(1) Unfortunately, due to confidentiality clauses that have been imposed on us by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, we are unable to provide our full names and … titles … However, we believe the evidence that will be submitted will validate the statements that we are making in this submission.” The submission detailed specific allegations – including names and dates – of sexual abuse of child detainees, violence and bullying of children, suicide attempts by children and medical neglect.
(2) The authors empirically studied the self-medication hypothesis of drug abuse by examining drug effects and motivation for drug use in 494 hospitalized drug abusers.
(3) Alcohol abuse remains the predominant cause of chronic liver disease in the Western world.
(4) With respect to family environment, a history of sexual abuse was associated with perceptions that families of origin had less cohesion, more conflict, less emphasis on moral-religious matters, less emphasis on achievement, and less of an orientation towards intellectual, cultural, and recreational pursuits.
(5) An official inquiry into the Rotherham abuse scandal blamed failings by Rotherham council and South Yorkshire police.
(6) Former detectives had dug out damning evidence of abuse, as well as testimony from officers recommending prosecution, sources said.
(7) After these two experimental years, a governmental institute for prevention of child abuse and neglect was organized.
(8) Stringer, a Vietnam war veteran who was knighted in 1999, is already inside the corporation, if only for a few months, after he was appointed as one of its non-executive directors to toughen up the BBC's governance following a string of scandals, from the Jimmy Savile abuse to multimillion-pound executive payoffs.
(9) History contains numerous examples of government secrecy breeding abuse.
(10) This preliminary study compared the level of ego development, as measured by Loevinger's Washington University Sentence Completion Test (SCT), of 30 women with histories of childhood sexual victimization, and 30 women with no history of abuse.
(11) The District became a byword for crime and drug abuse, while its “mayor for life” lived high on the hog and lurched cheerfully from one scandal to the next.
(12) An official from Cafcass, the children and family court advisory service, tried to persuade the child in several interviews, but eventually the official told the court that further persuasion was inappropriate and essentially abusive.
(13) A series of hierarchical multiple regressions revealed the effects of Surgency, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, and Intellect on evoking upset in spouses through condescension (e.g., treating spouse as stupid or inferior), possessiveness (demanding too much time and attention), abuse (slapping spouse), unfaithfulness (having sex with others), inconsiderateness (leaving toilet seat up), moodiness (crying a lot), alcohol abuse (drinking too much alcohol), emotional constriction (hiding emotions to act tough), and self-centeredness (acting selfishly).
(14) Its abuse has become concentrated among post-high school age, black males in a limited number of cities, especially Washington, DC.
(15) From a clinical standpoint, it is clear that psychiatrists caring for anxious patients must be aware of the possibility of secondary alcohol abuse.
(16) A thorough nursing assessment is essential to detect and correct drug misuse and to diagnose drug abuse.
(17) Substantial percentages of both physicians and medical students reported access to drugs, family histories of substance abuse, stress at work and home, emotional problems, and sensation seeking.
(18) Subjects with past history of chronic substance abuse, neurologic disease, or focal findings on MRI or CT were excluded.
(19) And any Labour commitment on spending is fatally undermined by their deficit amnesia.” Davey widened the attack on the Tories, following a public row this week between Clegg and Theresa May over the “snooper’s charter”, by accusing his cabinet colleague Eric Pickles of coming close to abusing his powers by blocking new onshore developments against the wishes of some local councils.
(20) Again, the boys in care that he abused now speak to us as broken adults.
Vilify
Definition:
(v. t.) To make vile; to debase; to degrade; to disgrace.
(v. t.) To degrade or debase by report; to defame; to traduce; to calumniate.
(v. t.) To treat as vile; to despise.
Example Sentences:
(1) Social workers are blamed and vilified, but we should be proud of what we do Read more “We have six seats for 11 people,” says Sarah Grade*, a children and families social worker based in south London.
(2) Social media has seized on the story, turning the Eastern Washington University’s professor of African studies into a figure vilified and mocked for cultural appropriation in the midst of fraught debates over transgender identity and police shootings of black people.
(3) What if the ad vilified African Americans, or Jews, or any other group for which public denigration is less permissible?
(4) As campaigns director for the pressure group, Oxley spent years vilifying government spending – with a special assault on development.
(5) Vilified, prosecuted, but – in the court of public opinion – ultimately vindicated: this is what happens to the heroes of democracy.
(6) David Wall: "Mark van Bommel has been wrongly vilified and miscast as a serial fouler.
(7) Some are starting to vilify and insult the disappeared students and demonise their parents and their demands,” said Hernández.
(8) Mark Field, the Conservative MP for the City of London and Westminster , said Hester had been "vilified" and warned that the intense row would put the best candidates off running the majority state-owned bank in the future.
(9) John Kerry , the US secretary of state, is vilified for continuing to insist that only negotiations can end the conflict – while simultaneously sidestepping the central question of Assad’s future – in line with Putin’s position.
(10) We are resigned to being blamed and vilified for the actions of any Muslim anywhere in the world.
(11) Instead, vilify and humiliate anybody who challenges – however meekly – the status quo.
(12) I was vilified, relentlessly, over 33 days, with over 800 hate emails ...
(13) His reputation was destroyed and he was vilified, he says.
(14) Barnaby Joyce defends halal after Coalition MPs express concern Read more “It is against the law to vilify Jews and it is not politically correct to denigrate blacks or gays.
(15) He remains popular despite efforts by Muslim groups to vilify him and is seen as the frontrunner in the election, though many voters are angry with him for evicting large numbers from slums to modernise Jakarta.
(16) Jayne Ozanne, a prominent campaigner for LGBT equality within the Anglican church, said: “Jeffrey is already a bishop in many of our eyes – he has been the ‘chief pastor’ to those of us who have felt discriminated against and vilified for the sake of our sexuality.
(17) Though he loves sport, he is now sworn off attending NFL matches at the MetLife stadium after attending a Jets v Titans game with his girlfriend and being “vilified from the parking lot to my seat for wearing a scarf”.
(18) Instead, we are vilified and made out to be money-grubbing if we complain about our working conditions.
(19) While ministers vilify people on benefits ( Freud sorry for comment about disabled people , 15 October), we urge everyone who thinks this is wrong to stand up for benefit justice.
(20) For decades they have been arbitrarily detained, denied education and livelihood, harassed, vilified in the media, and executed.