How to Use abusive in a Sentence

abusive

adjective
Definition of abusivenext
Synonyms for abusivenext
  • The fans yelled abusive comments to the referee.
  • And all the Papaya Games are governed by the same abusive terms.
    — Kathy Kristof, San Diego Union-Tribune, 31 July 2023
  • At 13, she was removed from an abusive home and put in foster care.
    — Melissa Gomez, Los Angeles Times, 11 Mar. 2024
  • But he was also known to be a demanding, even abusive, boss.
    — Joshua Yaffa, The New Yorker, 31 July 2023
  • That grasp, many former members and critics have said, was an abusive one.
    — Sean Neumann, Peoplemag, 15 Dec. 2023
  • Judges and juries tended to blame the women for staying with their abusive partners.
    — Emily Langer, Washington Post, 22 Nov. 2023
  • The plaintiff’s lawyers alleged in the complaint the archdiocese was aware of Close’s abusive behaviors.
    — Nicki Brown, CNN, 10 Aug. 2023
  • Viewers have accused Franke and her husband, Kevin, of being abusive for years.
    — Daysia Tolentino, NBC News, 31 Aug. 2023
  • Another member of the group, a Guatemalan who left her country to escape an abusive husband, crossed the river with her four-year-old son.
    — Megan Janetsky, ajc, 13 May 2023
  • The Artist has moved on to another relationship, but this one is toxic and abusive.
    — Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Feb. 2024
  • He had been kidnapped and forced to work for an abusive online scam operation.
    — Isabelle Qian, New York Times, 17 Dec. 2023
  • This series about the Garvey sisters and their colorful quest to protect one of the clan from an abusive husband should have been a no-brainer.
    — Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Times, 12 July 2023
  • The video clip ends with Tina advising survivors not to go back to their abusers and in the comments, there are TikTok users saying that the singer inspired them to leave their abusive partners.
    — Lorena O'Neil, Rolling Stone, 25 May 2023
  • More from Carolyn Hax From the archive: An abusive ex is terminally ill.
    — Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 29 June 2023
  • He'd been fired before for alleged abusive treatment of inmates only to find his way back to having the same or a similar job.
    — Arkansas Online, 10 Sep. 2023
  • Further, the more something is marketed, the higher the likelihood that the IRS will take an interest in it and try to stop it as an abusive tax shelter.
    — Jay Adkisson, Forbes, 12 Aug. 2023
  • The result feels more like an even-handed look at the camaraderie, the conflict, and the common ground of dealing with abusive or absent patriarchs.
    — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 12 Aug. 2023
  • At 26 years old, the woman escaped an abusive ex-boyfriend connected with the drug trade, who stalked her, locked her in a room for five days, and eventually ran her out of town, and Colombia.
    — Sarah Lapidus, The Arizona Republic, 9 May 2023
  • Ultimately, this could mean the person creating the deepfake video may be the copyright holder of the abusive content.
    — Matt Burgess, WIRED, 11 Mar. 2024
  • Enamoured by her performance, Ike Turner (who would go on to be her abusive husband) hired her to perform alongside the band.
    — Taylor Crumpton, refinery29.com, 26 May 2023
  • Val, the driving force behind the group’s scheme, struggled with homelessness after fleeing her abusive father in her teens.
    — Heller McAlpin, The Christian Science Monitor, 5 Mar. 2024
  • The same is true of the AI systems that companies use to help flag potentially dangerous or abusive content.
    — WIRED, 6 Nov. 2023
  • Griswold’s office received more than sixty death threats and nine hundred abusive calls.
    — Sue Halpern, The New Yorker, 9 Nov. 2023
  • Harrison told Olson that Chemawa was a refuge compared to the abusive foster home in Washington County.
    — oregonlive, 27 May 2023
  • For many, a single mom can create a much safer or more stable environment than living with an abusive parent and spouse.
    — David G. Allan, CNN, 14 May 2023
  • In what might seem like a questionable decision, Sylvia—who has a distinct memory of Saul but has blocked out much of her abusive younger years—invites him into her home and life.
    — Jennifer M. Wood, WIRED, 27 Dec. 2023
  • Angelina Jolie alleges, via lawyers in a new court filing, that ex Brad Pitt was abusive toward her prior to the 2016 plane incident that led her to filing for divorce.
    — Benjamin Vanhoose, Peoplemag, 4 Apr. 2024
  • At the beginning of Season 1, an abusive partner is straightened out before Reacher has even uttered a word: Reacher just has to stand in a diner parking lot and stare at him.
    — James Parker, The Atlantic, 19 Jan. 2024
  • Congress passed the law in 1938 to stop children from being exposed to dangerous conditions and abusive practices in mines, factories, farms and street trades.
    — Harm Venhuizen, Chicago Tribune, 25 May 2023
  • The result can be coercive at the very least—and emotionally or physically abusive at worst.
    — Time, 14 July 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'abusive.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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