different between abusive vs loathsome

English

Etymology

First attested in the 1530s. From French abusif, from Latin ab?s?vus, from abusus + -ivus (“-ive”). Equivalent to abuse +? -ive.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??bju?.s?v/
• (US) IPA^(key): /??bju.s?v/, /??bju.z?v/

Adjective

abusive (comparative more abusive, superlative most abusive)

1. Prone to treat someone badly by coarse, insulting words or other maltreatment; vituperative; reproachful; scurrilous. [First attested in the early 17th century.]

2. (obsolete) Tending to deceive; fraudulent. [Attested only from the early to mid 17th century.]
   • 1623, Francis Bacon, A Discourse of a War with Spain

     an abusive treaty

3. (archaic) Tending to misuse; practising or containing abuse. [First attested in the late 16th century.]
4. Being physically or emotionally injurious; characterized by repeated violence or other abuse.
5. Wrongly used; perverted; misapplied; unjust; illegal. [First attested in the mid 16th century.]
6. (archaic) Catachrestic. [First attested in the mid 16th century.]

Synonyms

• (prone to treating badly): reproachful, scurrilous, opprobrious, insolent, insulting, injurious, offensive, reviling, berating, vituperative

Derived terms

• abusively
• abusiveness

Translations

References

French

Adjective

abusive

1. feminine singular of abusif

Italian

Adjective

abusive

1. feminine plural of abusivo

Latin

Adjective

ab?s?ve

1. vocative masculine singular of ab?s?vus

References

• abusive in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press

English

Alternative forms

• loathesome

Etymology

From Middle English lothsum, from Old English *l?þsum, from Proto-West Germanic *laiþsam, equivalent to loath +? -some. Cognate with Middle Low German lêtsam (“arduous”), German leidsam (“sad, sorry”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?l??ð.s?m/, /?l???.s?m/

Adjective

loathsome (comparative more loathsome, superlative most loathsome)

1. Highly offensive; abominable, sickening.

Usage notes

• Nouns to which "loathsome" is often applied: disease, creature, thing, person, man, woman, dungeon, place, world, smell, act.

Derived terms

• loathsomely
• loathsomeness
• unloathsome

Translations

Further reading

• loathsome in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• loathsome in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• loathsome at OneLook Dictionary Search