as in to abuse
to inflict physical or emotional harm upon
some of the employees felt so ill-used by the new manager that they quit
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ill-use
Verb
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The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office said Kayode Agbolade Ogunba allegedly abused patients at a local care home.—
Matthew Rodriguez,
CBS News,
27 Jan. 2026 -
The victim-survivor in this case was not the only child Weberman abused.—
Guila Benchimol,
New York Daily News,
26 Jan. 2026
Verb
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For the second game running, Omari Hutchinson was too easily bullied off the ball in a dangerous area.—
Paul Taylor,
New York Times,
10 Jan. 2026
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Though the basics are similar, the improvements and extras combine to bully its predecessor into storage, and the Roadie 4 now has pride of place in the accessories cubby of my guitar's travel case.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
9 Jan. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Ill-use.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ill-use. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.
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