mismanage

[ mis-man-ij ]

verb (used with or without object)

, mis·man·aged, mis·man·ag·ing.

1. to manage incompetently or dishonestly:

   to mismanage funds.

   Synonyms: maladminister, botch, bungle, mishandle

mismanage

/ ˌmɪsˈmænɪdʒ /

verb

1. tr to manage badly or wrongly

Derived Forms

• ˌmisˈmanagement, noun
• ˌmisˈmanager, noun

Other Words From

• mis·manage·ment noun
• mis·manag·er noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of mismanage¹

First recorded in 1680–90; mis- ¹ + manage

Example Sentences

He mismanaged a state unemployment system that mailed checks to out of state prisoners but not to thousands of unemployed Californians who couldn’t pay rent or buy groceries.

From The Daily Beast

New York and Massachusetts sued FedLoan for allegedly mismanaging the loan forgiveness program and blamed the Education Department for lax oversight.

From Washington Post

Unfortunately, the business was mismanaged and Amos ultimately lost control of the company and even his name and likeness.

From Ozy

After the bad press, documents obtained by VOSD suggest renovations were rushed and mismanaged.

From Voice of San Diego

The 2020 election was a fair and secure success in the face of a catastrophically mismanaged pandemic and a storm of disinformation.

From MIT Technology Review

Because, in fact, she did somewhat mismanage things last time, so one of the crucial “Can she govern?”

From The Daily Beast

They are so simple in construction, that servants cannot mismanage them.

From Project Gutenberg

Yet Themistokles, rather than allow an ignorant commander to mismanage the war against Persia, bribed him to lay down his office.

From Project Gutenberg

She would marry Frank Randall; and between them they would mismanage, and ultimately ruin, the farm.

From Project Gutenberg

I can't conceive how he contrived to mismanage his affairs.'

From Project Gutenberg

And yet how sadly we mismanage men, and misuse opportunities.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• botch
• bungle
• mishandle
• misinterpret