Meanings
plural sexual abuses
- uncountableusuallycrimeAny sexual activity that is undesired by one participant but forced on them nonetheless, especially when considered to be more sustained or frequent than an incident of sexual assault.
Argentine priest Julio Grassi begins 15-year sentence over sexual abuse.
2013, The Guardian, (headline), 29 Sep 20132 more examples
Statutory-rape laws concerning voluntary intercourse would probably be taken off the books, though both young boys and young girls could still be protected against any sexual abuse by older persons.
1971 October 4, ‘Facing Equality for Women’, Time1987, Lou Sullivan, personal diary, quoted in 2019, Ellis Martin, Zach Ozma (editors), We Both Laughed In Pleasure I believe that I was the victim of sexual abuse in my relationship with T. It was always the way HE wanted it & I wasn't to do anything I wanted. So I just "submitted" to him & was glad that he would have anything to do with me.
Synonyms: sex abuse, molestation
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAny sexual activity that is undesired by one participant but forced on them nonetheless, especially when considered to be more sustained or frequent than an incident of sexual assault.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna statutory offense that provides that it is a crime to knowingly cause another person to engage in an unwanted sexual act by force or threat
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Afrikaans seksuele misbruik
- seksuele misbruikforcing of undesired sexual activity by one person on another
Arabic إِسَاءَة جِنْسِيَّة
- إِسَاءَة جِنْسِيَّةforcing of undesired sexual activity by one person on another
Bulgarian сексуален тормоз
- сексуален тормоз (seksualen tormoz)forcing of undesired sexual activity by one person on another
Catalan abús sexual
- abús sexualforcing of undesired sexual activity by one person on another
Chinese Mandarin 性虐待
- 性虐待 (xìngnüèdài)forcing of undesired sexual activity by one person on another
Danish seksuelt misbrug
- seksuelt misbrugforcing of undesired sexual activity by one person on another
Dutch seksueel misbruik
- seksueel misbruikforcing of undesired sexual activity by one person on another
Finnish seksuaalinen hyväksikäyttö
- seksuaalinen hyväksikäyttöforcing of undesired sexual activity by one person on another
French sévices sexuels
- sévices sexuelsforcing of undesired sexual activity by one person on another
German sexueller Missbrauch
- sexueller Missbrauchforcing of undesired sexual activity by one person on another
Japanese 性的虐待, 性虐待
- 性的虐待 (seiteki gyakutai)forcing of undesired sexual activity by one person on another
- 性虐待 (seigyakutai)forcing of undesired sexual activity by one person on another
Korean 성적 학대, 성학대
- 성적 학대 (seongjeok hakdae)forcing of undesired sexual activity by one person on another
- 성학대 (seonghakdae)forcing of undesired sexual activity by one person on another
Polish wykorzystywanie seksualne
- wykorzystywanie seksualneforcing of undesired sexual activity by one person on another
Portuguese abuso sexual
- abuso sexualforcing of undesired sexual activity by one person on another
Romanian abuz sexual
- abuz sexualforcing of undesired sexual activity by one person on another
Russian сексуальное злоупотребление
- сексуальное злоупотребление (seksualʹnoje zloupotreblenije)forcing of undesired sexual activity by one person on another
Spanish abuso sexual
- abuso sexualforcing of undesired sexual activity by one person on another
Swedish sexuellt övergrepp
- sexuellt övergreppforcing of undesired sexual activity by one person on another
Cite this entry
sexual abuse. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sexual%20abuse
“sexual abuse.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sexual%20abuse. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sexual abuse,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sexual%20abuse.
Source: sexual abuse on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.