as in insulting
marked by harsh insulting language
never one to believe that honorable people can disagree honorably, he invariably launches abusive attacks against anyone who dares to challenge him
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Recent Examples of abusive
Listen to this article Shaken baby syndrome is a form of abusive head trauma that occurs when a parent or caregiver violently shakes a baby through overwhelming frustration and losing control due to inconsolable or excessive crying.
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Bo Hyoun Choi, Hartford Courant, 27 Mar. 2025
The complainants said the abusive behavior began as soon as Farley, a 26-year veteran of the department whose father and grandfather were deputy chiefs, was appointed the top job.
—David Matthews, New York Daily News, 26 Mar. 2025
The rise of institutional investment in housing has also made people more vulnerable to eviction and to neglectful or abusive landlord management practices.
— Made By History, TIME, 25 Mar. 2025
In Distress Faithful daughter (FD) stepped in to rescue her aging father (AF) from an abusive situation at his home.
—Carolyn Rosenblatt, Forbes, 19 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for abusive
Bo Hyoun Choi, Hartford Courant, 27 Mar. 2025
The complainants said the abusive behavior began as soon as Farley, a 26-year veteran of the department whose father and grandfather were deputy chiefs, was appointed the top job.
—David Matthews, New York Daily News, 26 Mar. 2025
The rise of institutional investment in housing has also made people more vulnerable to eviction and to neglectful or abusive landlord management practices.
— Made By History, TIME, 25 Mar. 2025
In Distress Faithful daughter (FD) stepped in to rescue her aging father (AF) from an abusive situation at his home.
—Carolyn Rosenblatt, Forbes, 19 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for abusive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for abusive
Adjective
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Formula One's governing body, the FIA, has categorized certain actions and behaviors as 'misconduct,' which include insulting or inappropriate language and gestures.—
Josh Hammer,
Newsweek,
20 Mar. 2025
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Meghan’s infamous mock curtsy, which was seen as insulting… was [a] low point.—
Stephanie Nolasco,
Fox News,
17 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Since the mid-Nineties, he’s repeatedly reinvented R&B, hip-hop, and pop, lacing classics by the likes of Aaliyah, Justin Timberlake, and Jay-Z with skittering beats, future-shock synths, and his outrageous ear for samples and hooks.—
Brian Hiatt,
Rolling Stone,
19 Mar. 2025
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Where the previous side story, The Man Who Erased His Name, forced protagonist Kiryu to wrestle with his lonely existence, this romp casts anti-hero Goro Majima as an outrageous modern-day pirate.—
James Perkins Mastromarino,
NPR,
14 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Taken by the apparent deterioration of his health, users made those clips go viral and eventually adapted the money spread into a mini-dance trend where users bop to the song before flaunting an obscene amount of cash (or weed baggies or fishing lures!).—
Andrew Unterberger,
Billboard,
19 Mar. 2025
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But there are more visible and indecent »Paris Game« leftovers: the enormous/obscene sportsbook ads on display at every other métro station.—
Eduardo Tansley,
The Athletic,
23 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Utah’s Kevin Stenlund then took a high-sticking penalty in Buffalo’s offensive zone.—
Matthew Fairburn,
The Athletic,
21 Mar. 2025
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Mikan matches Rhode Island in offensive output and his teammates add another 44 for a final score of 97-53. 1953 — Rookie Bob Cousy sets an NBA record with 50 points and leads the Boston Celtics to a 111-105 victory over the Syracuse Nationals in a quadruple overtime playoff game.—
Austin Knoblauch,
Los Angeles Times,
21 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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The best way to safeguard against malicious links that install malware, potentially accessing your private information, is to have strong antivirus software installed on all your devices.—
Kurt Knutsson, CyberGuy Report,
Fox News,
23 Mar. 2025
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These methods can easily miss deeper behavioral indicators that would signal a malicious payload lurking beneath the surface.—
Alex Vakulov,
Forbes,
23 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Trump’s vituperative persona, his enmity toward multilateralism, and his extreme policy agenda could easily sink the United States’ prospects for meaningful leadership of the G-20.—
Leslie Vinjamuri,
Foreign Affairs,
15 Nov. 2024
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Unlike Rhoades, a vituperative colossus, however, Williams brings a steely determination and a Joe Friday, just-the-facts mien to his lawyering in the court of public opinion.—
Cynthia Littleton,
Variety,
4 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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One upshot was Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which to this day insulates social media from legal liability for the content — however incendiary or scurrilous — that users post.—
Mark Z. Barabak,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Jan. 2025
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Facts won’t deter Republicans on this point, however, for the same reason that Trump and his running mate, J. D. Vance, keep repeating their scurrilous lies about Haitian immigrants eating the pets of Ohio: white anxiety about a diversifying country has become one of the Party’s greatest assets.—
Jonathan Blitzer,
The New Yorker,
22 Sep. 2024
Adjective
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Congolese leaders have a tendency for invective and to blame all their ills on Rwanda.—
Jason K. Stearns,
TIME,
19 Mar. 2025
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In his new biography of Barnes, Blake Gopnik foregrounds this democratic ethos, focusing specifically on the philanthropist’s contributions to building racial equality—despite Barnes’s notoriously cantankerous personality and his tendency toward invective and slur.—
Kelly Presutti,
ARTnews.com,
12 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Abusive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/abusive. Accessed 2 Apr. 2025.
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