malpractice
Americannoun
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Law. failure of a professional person, as a physician or lawyer, to render proper services through reprehensible ignorance or negligence or through criminal intent, especially when injury or loss follows.
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any improper, negligent practice; misconduct or misuse.
noun
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immoral, illegal, or unethical professional conduct or neglect of professional duty
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any instance of improper professional conduct
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of malpractice
Explanation
If you needed your tonsils removed but your surgeon accidentally took out your appendix instead, you could sue her for malpractice, or mistreatment by a doctor that results in harm to the patient. There are many kinds of malpractice, but medical and legal — by a doctor or lawyer — are the most common. Any professional who injures a client or patient through negligence risks being accused of malpractice, and possibly taken to court. The prefix mal means "bad," from the Latin word malus, or "evil." Practice comes from the Modern Latin practicare, "to practice." If a doctor practices medicine badly enough that it hurts someone, that's malpractice.
Vocabulary lists containing malpractice
Legal Lingo, List 5
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More Happy Than Not
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Roots: mal
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
One lawyer in Texas has started filing malpractice lawsuits.
From Salon • May 27, 2026
An increase in patients, not enough medical staff, the threat of malpractice lawsuits, and distress about patients’ inability to pay for healthcare got so bad that he developed post-traumatic stress disorder.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 23, 2026
"Tourism is an important industry. We must take corrective action against any malpractice."
From Barron's • Apr. 7, 2026
When the Duke of Sussex embarked on his last legal campaigns, against Mirror Group Newspapers and Rupert Murdoch's News Group, there was already plenty of evidence of media malpractice.
From BBC • Mar. 31, 2026
Believe it or not, the risk of being sued for malpractice has very little to do with how many mistakes a doctor makes.
From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
