# abused

Pronunciation: say "uh-BYOOZD" /əˈbjuzd/

## Adjective

1. Having been a victim of abuse, especially child abuse or domestic violence.
   - Simple: Having been hurt or treated cruelly by another person, often a parent or partner.
   - _The abused child finally confided in a school counselor about what was happening at home._
   - _Many abused partners stay silent for years out of fear and shame._
3. Overused, or used wastefully and to excess.
   - Simple: Used far too much, or wasted by being used too freely.
   - _By the end of the campaign, the slogan felt tired and abused._
   - _Exclamation points are badly abused in marketing emails._

## Verb

2. Simple past and past participle of abuse. — simple past and past participle of abuse
   - Simple: Simple past and past participle of abuse. Use this form for something that already happened.
   - _The company abused a legal loophole to avoid paying its taxes._
   - _Generations of workers were abused by the factory's owners._

## Adjective

4. Deluded or deceived; led into false belief. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Tricked into believing something that is not true.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/abused (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).