There's always a comment designed to make one person feel inadequate. Constant put-downs, insults, and derogatory statements can wear women down to the point where they lose all feelings of worth or sense of identity. The one who takes sadistic joy in humiliating others is an insecure person who feels that by belittling others he will feel better about himself. Humiliation of others is verbal abuse. Deprivation is withholding something from another that she or he needs or deserves.
Willful deprivation is abuse.
Isolation is the act of separating a person from others. A subtle but serious form of nonviolent abuse is isolating the wife and family from normal social relationships. Homes often lack even the basic amenities of life and leave wives too ashamed to have friends in for coffee. Often there is no phone and no car. Isolation, whether physical or emotional, can be abuse.