abused

English

Alternative forms

• abus'd (verb only, poetic)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈbjuːzd/, enPR: əbyo͞ozdʹ

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːzd
• Hyphenation: abused

Verb

abused

1. simple past and past participle of abuse

Adjective

abused (comparative more abused, superlative most abused)

1. Having been a victim of some form of abuse, most commonly child abuse or domestic violence.
2. Overused; used profligately or in excess.
3. (obsolete) Deluded, deceived.
   • c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood, editor, John Skelton: The Complete English Poems, 1983, →OCLC, page 62, lines 5–7:

     That be so farre abusyd
     They cannot be excusyd
     By reason nor by law; […]

Usage notes

The second sense ("Overused; used profligately or in excess") is uncommon except in the phrase much-abused.

Derived terms

• abusedly
• nonabused
• unabused

 

Anagrams

• daubes