misuse

verb

mis·​use ˌmis-ˈyüz 

misused; misusing; misuses

transitive verb

1

: to use incorrectly : misapply

misused his talents

a word that is frequently misused

was charged withmisusing company funds

2

: abuse, mistreat

… their prisoner had the heavy task of receiving their insolence as wit, answering their insults with good-humour, and withholding from them the opportunity which they sought of engaging him in a quarrel, that they might have a pretence for misusing him.

—Sir Walter Scott

misuser noun

plural misusers

Synonyms of misuse

• abuse

Examples of misuse in a Sentence

She's charged with misusing company funds.

a word that is frequently misused

Recent Examples on the Web

Police arrested Brown that night and charged him with misusing 911. —Charlotte Observer, 9 June 2026

The co-founder of the now defunct FTX crypto exchange is currently serving a 25-year federal prison sentence after he was found guilty of orchestrating a massive fraud scheme that misused billions of dollars in customer funds at FTX and its affiliated trading firm, Alameda Research. —Tanaya MacHeel, CNBC, 8 June 2026

Furthermore, a recent Financial Times investigation revealed that even when AI developers implement guardrails to prevent bad actors from misusing them, protections can be bypassed using openly available software tools in less than 10 minutes. —Mohammad Hosseini, Chicago Tribune, 4 June 2026

Warren Fairley — who briefly took over as Boilermakers president in 2023 after Jones was ousted by his executive council for misusing union money — and Jones’ son, Cullen Jones, pleaded guilty in March to one count of racketeering conspiracy and one count of embezzlement from a labor organization. —Judy L. Thomas, Kansas City Star, 3 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, partly from mis- + usen to use; partly from Middle French mesuser to abuse, from Old French, from mes- + user to use

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for misuse

• accrues
• accuse
• aircrews
• amuse
• bamboos
• breakthroughs
• canoes
• cashews
• chartreuse
• confuse
• construes
• defuse

Kids Definition

misuse

1 of 2 verb

mis·​use mish-ˈüz 

(ˈ)mish-ˈyüz, 

(ˈ)mis-ˈyüz

1

: to use incorrectly : misapply

2

: abuse entry 1 sense 2, mistreat

misusage

-ˈ(y)ü-sij, 

-zij

noun

misuse

2 of 2 noun

mis·​use mish-ˈüs 

(ˈ)mish-ˈyüs, 

(ˈ)mis-ˈyüs

: incorrect or improper use