misused; misusing; misuses
1
: to use incorrectly : misapply
misused his talents
a word that is frequently misused
was charged withmisusing company funds
misuser
noun
plural misusers
: incorrect or improper use : misapplication
the misuse of words
a misuse of power
Examples of misuse in a Sentence
Verb
She's charged with misusing company funds.
a word that is frequently misused
Noun
No refunds will be offered on products damaged by misuse.
the warranty for this dryer is null and void if you subject the product to deliberate misuse
Recent Examples on the Web
Jack Birle, The Washington Examiner, 1 Jan. 2026
In November, Anthropic disclosed how its Claude Code agent had been misused to automate parts of a cyberattack.
—Thomas Şerban Von Davier, The Conversation, 29 Dec. 2025
Samantha Subin,lora Kolodny, CNBC, 2 Jan. 2026
Lawmakers are eyeing bills on environmental challenges ranging from the state’s waste crisis, fixing loopholes in existing laws, further restricting helium balloons, and tightening fines for bottle deposit redemption misuse.
—Stephen Underwood, Hartford Courant, 2 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for misuse
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Verb
As the number of successful emergency docket requests continued to accumulate, the liberal minority expressed increasing frustration through its dissents, accusing the majority of misusing the emergency docket.
—Jack Birle, The Washington Examiner, 1 Jan. 2026
In November, Anthropic disclosed how its Claude Code agent had been misused to automate parts of a cyberattack.
—Thomas Şerban Von Davier, The Conversation, 29 Dec. 2025
Noun
While other chatbots have faced similar issues, xAI has repeatedly landed in hot water for misuse or apparent flaws in Grok’s design or underlying technology.
—Samantha Subin,lora Kolodny, CNBC, 2 Jan. 2026
Lawmakers are eyeing bills on environmental challenges ranging from the state’s waste crisis, fixing loopholes in existing laws, further restricting helium balloons, and tightening fines for bottle deposit redemption misuse.
—Stephen Underwood, Hartford Courant, 2 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for misuse
Cite this Entry
“Misuse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/misuse. Accessed 3 Jan. 2026.
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