MISUSED Synonyms: 63 Similar and Opposite Words

misused

verb

past tense of misuse

as in abused

to put to a bad or improper use an actor who misused his considerable talent by appearing in too many lousy movies

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in bullied

to inflict physical or emotional harm upon sadly misused by the people he had trusted

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of misused Macedo wrote a letter to Steve Kawa, the chair of the authority’s board, ahead of the meeting saying that Choudri had misused taxpayer money and abused public trust. — Stephen Hobbs, Sacbee.com, 10 Oct. 2026 In another case, the audit found that a high-ranking law enforcement officer misused confidential databases to look up family members and other employees without legitimate business purposes. — Dakota Smith, Los Angeles Times, 8 Oct. 2026 The company’s latest threat intelligence report raised the alarm about how foreign actors have misused its frontier AI models to research and develop biological weapons, among other areas of concern. — David Zimmermann, The Washington Examiner, 8 Oct. 2026 Flock cameras have caused privacy concerns in Illinois and across the country after being misused by police officers in a number of law enforcement agencies. — CBS News, 6 Oct. 2026 Is there a more prolifically misused major star today than Pedro Pascal? — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 5 Oct. 2026 Though one senses her powers of persuasion are being misused at this corporate advertising agency. — Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 30 Sep. 2026 The researchers at Google argued that the risk of the algorithm being misused or rapidly developed further if it was made public was simply too great. — Manon Bischoff, Scientific American, 22 Sep. 2026 The United States has withheld billions of dollars from the United Nations over allegations that its budget is too large and being misused. — Miles J. Herszenhorn, USA Today, 22 Sep. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for misused

abused

Verb

Macedo wrote a letter to Steve Kawa, the chair of the authority’s board, ahead of the meeting saying that Choudri had misused taxpayer money and abused public trust.

— Stephen Hobbs, Sacbee.com, 10 Oct. 2026
Krems said the nanny, Chun-May Lee, who allegedly abused the children, was quickly fired.

— Austin Turner, CBS News, 7 Oct. 2026

Definition of abused

Browse Nearby Words

misuse

misused

misuses

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Misused.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/misused. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of misused

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

deportment

Popular in Grammar & Usage

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Popular in Wordplay

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 9

Popular

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

Games & Quizzes