abusive

1. 1.

   expressing offensive reproach

   Synonymsopprobriousscurrilous

   Similaroffensive
2. 2.

   characterized by physical or psychological maltreatment

   “abusive punishment”

   “argued...that foster homes are abusive”

   Similarharmful

Questions about abusive

What does abusive mean?

abusive means "expressing offensive reproach". That is the primary sense; the word has 2 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in abusive?

abusive has 3 syllables: a-bu-sive. The stress falls on "bu". In IPA it is /əˈbjusɪv/.

What is another word for abusive?

Close synonyms include opprobrious, scurrilous. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is abusive a common word?

abusive is banded "Familiar" — widely understood, used when the subject calls for it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.