abusively
adv.adv. in a way that is cruel, unfair, or treats someone badly. You use this to describe behavior that is mean or harmful.
adv. in a manner that is cruel, unfair, or harmful; treating someone with excessive harshness or violence.
He was fired for speaking abusively to his colleagues.
The manager was reprimanded for abusively criticizing the team during the meeting.
The witness claimed that the defendant had abusively manipulated the legal process to delay the trial and exhaust the plaintiff's resources.
From abusive + -ly.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Nounabusiveness
- Adjectiveabusive
- Adverbabusively
Last updated May 18, 2026