How to Use abusive in a Sentence

abusive

adjective
Definition of abusivenext
Synonyms for abusivenext
  • The fans yelled abusive comments to the referee.
  • The silent treatment and throwing out your things (twice) are abusive.
    — Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 20 July 2022
  • Instead she was sent to an abusive foster home in Ragley, La.
    — Gale Hollandstaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 13 July 2022
  • Sir Reginald prepares the children for his grand plans by subjecting them to gruelling and often abusive training.
    — Crispin Long, The New Yorker, 12 July 2022
  • Some people would rather have a little bit more money in an abusive environment than less money in a much more nourishing environment.
    — Elena Kadvany, San Francisco Chronicle, 14 July 2022
  • The state alleged that the arrangement was designed to enable Think Finance to profit from abusive loans by evading state lending laws.
    — Joel Jacobs, ProPublica, 15 Jan. 2025
  • Others refused to go to alternative shelters and instead returned to abusive families.
    — Dawn Ennis, Forbes, 18 July 2022
  • Alotaibi had documented the alleged abusive relationship on social media.
    — Landon Mion, Fox News, 23 July 2022
  • Multiple women told the outlet Gaiman sent them money after their abusive relationships ended and forced them to sign nondisclosure agreements.
    — Joseph Wilkinson, New York Daily News, 13 Jan. 2025
  • Statements cannot be abusive, disruptive, harassing, frivolous or repetitive.
    — Caroline Beck, The Indianapolis Star, 15 July 2022
  • For example, one single mother in her 20s, who for security reasons asked not to be named, left an abusive relationship, and ended up in a shelter with her four young kids.
    — Magda Hernandez, The Christian Science Monitor, 19 July 2022
  • And all the Papaya Games are governed by the same abusive terms.
    — Kathy Kristof, San Diego Union-Tribune, 31 July 2023
  • My father has been abusive to me my whole life, and I’ve been estranged from him for years.
    — Sahaj Kaur Kohli, Washington Post, 6 Apr. 2023
  • In the movie, the father character, played by LaBeouf, is abusive.
    — Brendan Morrow, The Week, 30 Aug. 2022
  • At 13, she was removed from an abusive home and put in foster care.
    — Melissa Gomez, Los Angeles Times, 11 Mar. 2024
  • Her husband was abusive even before the drought that’s now ravaging Kenya’s arid north, the worst in decades.
    — Aie Balagtas See, Washington Post, 3 Jan. 2023
  • On Tuesday, Chokr again was abusive, but was on mute, and so his comments couldn't be heard.
    — Niraj Warikoo, Detroit Free Press, 7 Dec. 2022
  • And the most abusive customer to my Balthazar servers since the restaurant opened 25 years ago.
    — Mackenzie Schmidt, Peoplemag, 4 June 2024
  • It’s there in how the film anatomized not just the horrific behavior of abusive priests but the omertà of the Church.
    — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 13 Oct. 2022
  • But the defense continued to portray the idea that Doug was abusive.
    — Jim Axelrod, CBS News, 8 Sep. 2024
  • Chimney tends to a drunk driver, and Maddie is called in when an abusive father shows up at the house.
    — Olivia McCormack, Washington Post, 10 Oct. 2022
  • Some 96% of the parents are single mothers, some of whom are trying to leave abusive homes.
    — Martha Ross, The Mercury News, 3 Dec. 2024
  • Lakota-Lynch plays Johnny Cade, a shy 16-year-old from an abusive home.
    — Juan A. Ramírez, New York Times, 18 Apr. 2024
  • But he was also known to be a demanding, even abusive, boss.
    — Joshua Yaffa, The New Yorker, 31 July 2023
  • Drake also doubled down on his claims that Lamar was abusive.
    — Shaheem Reid, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 May 2024
  • Eve, a pregnant woman with an abusive ex, joined the series as the couple was looking to adopt.
    — Alamin Yohannes, EW.com, 8 Feb. 2023
  • That grasp, many former members and critics have said, was an abusive one.
    — Sean Neumann, Peoplemag, 15 Dec. 2023
  • But the suspicion of abusive head trauma, once raised, is hard to undo.
    — Pamela Colloff, ProPublica, 29 Dec. 2024
  • Cassie’s husband, Fine, spoke out following the release of the footage, taking abusive men to task.
    — Jessica Bennett, VIBE.com, 17 Sep. 2024
  • More:Women who lived in abusive marriages in the US have been abandoned overseas.
    — Sophie Carson, Journal Sentinel, 24 Feb. 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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