dysfunctional

American  

[dis-fuhngk-shuh-nl] / dɪsˈfʌŋk ʃə nl /

adjective

1. not performing normally, as an organ or structure of the body; malfunctioning.

2. having a malfunctioning part or element.

   It is hard to get bills through a dysfunctional congress.

3. behaving or acting outside social norms.

   All the siblings in their extremely dysfunctional family lost contact as adults.

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dysfunctional British  

/ dɪsˈfʌŋkʃənəl /

adjective

1. med (of an organ or part) not functioning normally

2. (esp of a family) characterized by a breakdown of normal or beneficial relationships between members of the group

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Other Word Forms

• dysfunctionally adverb

Etymology

Origin of dysfunctional

First recorded in 1910–15; dysfunction ( def. ) + -al ¹ ( def. )

Example Sentences

It wasn't the fact that they lost to Italy that caused such fury, it was the manner of it, the soft-touch defending, the dysfunctional set-piece, the wasted opportunities in attack.

From BBC

His death in 2021 split his real estate empire between his ex-wife and widow — an arrangement that residents say led to dysfunctional management.

From Los Angeles Times

Inertia is the easiest and most likely choice in any polity, and sometimes not even a crisis is enough to dislodge a dysfunctional status quo.

From The Wall Street Journal

They selected him at third overall in the 2018 draft, and Darnold not only arrived in a dysfunctional organization, he was also abnormally young on draft day at just 20 years old.

From The Wall Street Journal

In both cases, cartilage that had become thin and dysfunctional with age thickened across the joint surface.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• flawed