abusiveness

abusive (əˈbjuːsɪv)

—*adj*
1.	characterized by insulting or coarse language
2.	characterized by maltreatment
3.	incorrectly used; corrupt

a'busively

—*adv*

a'busiveness

—n

abusive (əˈbjuːsɪv)

—*adj*
1.	characterized by insulting or coarse language
2.	characterized by maltreatment
3.	incorrectly used; corrupt

a'busively

—*adv*

a'busiveness

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

abusive

1530s (in abusively), originally "improper," from Fr. abusif (fem. abusive), from L. abusivus, from abusus, pp. of abuti (see abuse). Meaning "full of abuse" is from 1580s. Abuseful was used 17c., and Shakespeare has abusious ("Taming of the Shrew," 1594).

Matching Quote

"Such in outline is the official theory. I shall often speak of it, with deliberate abusiveness, as "the dogma of the Ghost in the Machine." I hope to prove that it is entirely false, and false not in detail but in principle. It is not merely an assemblage of particular mistakes. It is one big mistake and a mistake of a special kind. It is, namely, a category mistake. It represents the facts of mental life as if they belonged to one logical type or category (or range of types or categories), when they actually belong to another. The dogma is therefore a philosopher's myth."

-Gilbert Ryle

Use Dictionary.com faster without ads >>

Related Words

abusive