The word lends itself to misuse by beginners.
Source: tatoeba (2724606)
Misuse
//mɪsˈjuːs//
Synonyms for "misuse" (224 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Closest matches (45)
Strong matches (67)
degradedenaturedepravederelictiondesecratedesecrationdespoildevaluedistortdiversiondivertdivertingdo amissdrainembezzleembezzlementemployemploymentenvenomingerratum
Show 42 more words
errorexerciseexertionexploitfailurefalse coloringfaultfautefesteringfoulfoulinggarblegood usehard usagehard useharmhuman errorhurtill useill-treatill-useimposeimpose uponimpositioninfectinfectioninfelicityinjuremake use ofmaladministermalapropismmalfeasancemalodorousmalpracticemaltreatmanipulatemilkmisapplicationmisapprehensionmisappropriatemisappropriationmiscalculation
Related words (112)
miscallmiscarriagemiscitemisconceptionmisconductmisconstructionmisconstruemiscountmisdealmisdirectmisdirectionmisemploymisemploymentmisfeasancemisfieldmishandlemishandlingmisidentificationmisinterpretmisinterpretation
Show 71 more words
misjudgmentmismanagemismanagementmisplaymisprintmisquotationmisquotemisreadmisrendermisreportmisrepresentmisrepresentationmissmisspellmisstatementmistakemistreatmistreatmentmisunderstandingmisusageoutragepeculateperversionpilferpilferingplayplay onpoisonpoisoningpollutepollutionpresume uponprofanationprofaneprostituteprostitutionravageravishrough usagesacrilegeslantslantingsolecismstrainstrainingstrokesuck drysuppurationtainttake advantage oftorturetorturingtwisttypotypographical errorulcerateusageuseuse illusing upvarnishvilifyviolateviolationvitiatevitiationvulgarizewarpwork onwork uponwrong use
Related word relations
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
More general
20 entriesShowing 16 of 20 words.
Antonyms
5 entriesSynonyms
2 entriesderived
1 entriesderived from
1 entriesis a
1 entriesrelated to
8 entriesTranslations
52 translations across 23 languages.
Albanian
1 entries- shpërdoroj noun (incorrect, improper or unlawful use)
Bulgarian
4 entries- злоупотреба noun (incorrect, improper or unlawful use)
- блудствам verb (to abuse sexually)
- злоупотребявам verb (to use something incorrectly)
- отнасям се лошо с verb (to abuse or mistreat something or someone)
Czech
2 entries- zneužití noun (incorrect, improper or unlawful use)
- zneužít verb (to abuse or mistreat something or someone)
Danish
1 entries- misbrug noun (incorrect, improper or unlawful use)
Esperanto
2 entries- misuzo noun (incorrect, improper or unlawful use)
- misuzi verb (to use something incorrectly)
Finnish
4 entries- väärinkäyttö noun (incorrect, improper or unlawful use)
- kohdella väärin verb (to abuse or mistreat something or someone)
- käyttää hyväksi verb (to abuse sexually)
- käyttää väärin verb (to use something incorrectly)
French
1 entries- mésusage noun (incorrect, improper or unlawful use)
German
4 entries- Fehlbedienung noun (incorrect, improper or unlawful use)
- Fehlgebrauch noun (incorrect, improper or unlawful use)
- Missbrauch noun (incorrect, improper or unlawful use)
- Zweckentfremdung noun (incorrect, improper or unlawful use)
Greek
1 entries- κατάχρηση noun (incorrect, improper or unlawful use)
Hungarian
2 entries- visszaélés noun (incorrect, improper or unlawful use)
- visszaél verb (to abuse or mistreat something or someone)
Indonesian
2 entries- penyalahgunaan noun (incorrect, improper or unlawful use)
- menyalahgunakan verb (to use something incorrectly)
Italian
4 entries- abuso noun (incorrect, improper or unlawful use)
- abusare verb (to abuse or mistreat something or someone)
- abusare verb (to abuse sexually)
- stuprare verb (to abuse sexually)
Kabuverdianu
2 entries- abuza noun (incorrect, improper or unlawful use)
- abuzá noun (incorrect, improper or unlawful use)
Latin
1 entries- abūtor verb (to use something incorrectly)
Malay
1 entries- salah guna noun (incorrect, improper or unlawful use)
Malayalam
1 entries- ദുരുപയോഗം noun (incorrect, improper or unlawful use)
Māori
1 entries- raukoti verb (to abuse or mistreat something or someone)
Norwegian Bokmål
1 entries- misbruk noun (incorrect, improper or unlawful use)
Norwegian Nynorsk
1 entries- misbruk noun (incorrect, improper or unlawful use)
Russian
1 entries- злоупотребля́ть verb (to use something incorrectly)
Spanish
2 entries- mal uso noun (incorrect, improper or unlawful use)
- abusar verb (to abuse or mistreat something or someone)
Volapük
3 entries- migeb noun (incorrect, improper or unlawful use)
- migebön verb (to use something incorrectly)
- migebön verb (to abuse or mistreat something or someone)
Walloon
1 entries- mezuzance noun (incorrect, improper or unlawful use)
Sample sentences
13 total sentences available.
Misuse of prepositions can make a situation hilarious.
Source: tatoeba (3492813)
Stupidity is also a gift of God, but one mustn't misuse it.
Source: tatoeba (4001046)
Don't misuse this product!
Source: tatoeba (5082821)
Showing 4 of 13 available sentences.
Keep exploring
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.