abused
English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Verb
[edit]abused
- simple past and past participle of abuse
Adjective
[edit]abused (comparative more abused, superlative most abused)
- Having been a victim of some form of abuse, most commonly child abuse or domestic violence.
- Overused; used profligately or in excess.
- (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
[edit]The second sense ("Overused; used profligately or in excess") is uncommon except in the phrase much-abused.