abusive
pronunciation
How to pronounce abusive in British English:
UK [əˈbju:sɪv]
How to pronounce abusive in American English:
US [əˈbjusɪv, -zɪv]
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- Adjective:
- expressing offensive reproach
- characterized by physical or psychological maltreatment
Word Origin
- abusive (adj.)
- 1530s (implied in abusively), originally "improper," from Middle French abusif, from Latin abusivus, from abus-, past participle stem of abuti (see abuse (v.)). Meaning "full of abuse" is from 1580s. Abuseful was used 17c., and Shakespeare has abusious ("Taming of the Shrew," 1594). Related: Abusiveness.
Example
- 1. Governments must do more to track potentially abusive transactions , even if they benefit .
- 2. It would be responsible for protecting people from unfair and abusive practices with borrowing and investing .
- 3. In my research trying to understand why abusive programs were able to continue operating after dozens of people had gone public with their stories of harm , I found a commonality in every case .
- 4. After all , abusive tax arbitrage is merely a way for companies and banks to acquire subsidies from unsuspecting taxpayers .
- 5. The politicised and abusive chinese legal system has just been given a seal of approval by one of its most respected and progressive counterparts in the west .