ABUSIVELY Synonyms: 62 Similar and Opposite Words

abusively

adverb

as in viciously

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Recent Examples of abusively Ritter has disciplined Menapace after the lawmaker acted rudely or abusively to a committee clerk. — Mark Pazniokas, Hartford Courant, 2 May 2026 Instead, the justices suggested that the board should propose a state law that could impose penalties, such as reductions in attorneys’ fees, for lawyers who act abusively. — Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle, 16 Mar. 2026 When Rabbit asks to be the one to adopt Stacey after her graduation, Evelyn abusively rejects the notion and Rabbit is crushed. — Erin Qualey, Vulture, 25 Sep. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for abusively

Adverb

Noa dances viciously, slamming her body raw in front of the stage.

— Robert Rubsam, New Yorker, 2 Sep. 2026
In an early 2000s commercial, Michelob Ultra portrayed a woman getting viciously tackled in a football game at a park.

— Jon Root OutKick, FOXNews.com, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of viciously

Adverb

Rosie O'Donnell has returned to television to savagely roast one of her biggest foes.

— Brendan Morrow, USA Today, 18 Aug. 2026
Anderson plays the deceased family matriarch who lost her life after a pack of wolves savagely gobbled her up, leaving nearly nothing behind to be buried.

— Rosy Cordero, Deadline, 24 July 2026

Definition of savagely

Adverb

The Joker, Batman movies Batman’s greatest adversary is ruthlessly, functionally insane.

— Kevin Jacobsen, Entertainment Weekly, 2 Sep. 2026
The first at Lord's was only 110 on Friday, and two days later England's all-seam attack was ruthlessly picking apart the top order again.

— ABC News, ABC News, 30 Aug. 2026

Definition of ruthlessly

Adverb

Walter’s ties to immigrant detention resulted in protests from members of the Los Angeles community, including many Dodgers fans, who felt that ICE inhumanely targeted them.

— Peter Chawaga, Forbes.com, 29 July 2026
In May 2025, the zoo posted a video of authorities taking a giraffe and accused them of seizing it inhumanely.

— Saman Shafiq, USA Today, 22 June 2026

Definition of inhumanely

Adverb

This is no small feat in a city where working class locals are priced out mercilessly to make way for the ultra-wealthy here to work on their winter tans.

— Amanda Rosa, Miami Herald, 2 Sep. 2026
Despite her clear influence, Rico was mercilessly heckled by Carti fans during her performance at the Portland tour stop.

— Mehan Jayasuriya, Pitchfork, 24 July 2026

Definition of mercilessly

Adverb

Residents were treated carelessly, disrespectfully, insensitively.

— Carol Marbin Miller, Miami Herald, 2 Apr. 2026
In this volatile environment, comments that appear to minimize or frame the shooting insensitively—like Matt Gutman's—can quickly become career-ending.

— Martha McHardy, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Sep. 2025

Definition of insensitively

Adverb

The biggest fear for people who want to see books preserved through the training process is that AI firms will callously pulp rare books that can never be replaced.

— Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 12 Aug. 2026
Conventional wisdom callously had it that audiences might never return, especially after the pandemic in 2020 was followed in short order in 2023 by two prolonged industrywide strikes.

— Adam Aron, Variety, 29 July 2026

Definition of callously

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“Abusively.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/abusively. Accessed 16 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of abusively

adverb

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