ill-use

verb

ˈil-ˈyüz How to pronounce ill-use (audio)
Definition of ill-usenext
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

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for ill-use
  1. abuse
  2. bully
Verb
  • Some evidence of harms from testosterone stem from people who abuse the hormone, taking levels well above what would be used to bring a patient with hypogonadism into a normal range.
    — Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 17 July 2026
  • The textbook catalogs the ways prosecutors can abuse their powers.
    — Joaquin Sapien, ProPublica, 17 July 2026
Definition of abuse
Verb
  • Two weeks after being bullied off X by gangs of LIB truthers, German soccer fan Freddy, whose wholesome social media posts on American culture during his travels around the country early in the World Cup, has returned to the app.
    — Joe Kinsey OutKick, FOXNews.com, 13 July 2026
  • Children who are bullied may also experience back-to-school anxiety.
    — Kimberly Zapata, Parents, 12 July 2026
Definition of bully
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.

Browse Nearby Words

ill-usages
ill-use
ill-used
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Ill-use.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ill-use. Accessed 19 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

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

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 17
See More

Popular

See More

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

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
child-detective
Spot the Misspelled Word July 2026 Those little red underlines can't help you now...
See All