This article is about the ethics-related issue of abuse. For the computer game, see Abuse (computer game). For a similar word (e.g. a make of padlocks), see Abus.

Abuse is a general term for the use or treatment of something (person, thing, idea, etc.) that causes some kind of harm (to the abused person or thing, to the abusers themselves, or to someone else) or is unlawful or wrongful. Its close synonyms are mistreatment and maltreatment. The word "misuse" has a more distant meaning of incorrect, uneducated use, not necessary harmful.