dysfunctional
[dis-fuhngk-shuh-nl]
- not performing normally, as an organ or structure of the body; malfunctioning.
- having a malfunctioning part or element: It is hard to get bills through a dysfunctional congress.
- behaving or acting outside social norms: All the siblings in their extremely dysfunctional family lost contact as adults.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for dysfunctional
Contemporary Examples
These young adults have voluntarily checked out of a political system they consider corrupt and dysfunctional.
This is a story that celebrates difference, as opposed to the story of a dysfunctional kid.
The family was close, “in a crazy kind of dysfunctional way,” he says.
Their interest, as ever, is in pushing the perception that Washington is dysfunctional.
The populist anger at Washington incumbents in this election is directed at the dysfunctional divisions in DC.
Historical Examples
It is this unaccomplished, uneasy metamorphosis that tore the social fabric of CEE apart, rendering it poisoned and dysfunctional.
After the RainSam Vaknin
The West knew that these institutions were dysfunctional – but not to which breathtaking extent.
After the RainSam Vaknin
dysfunctional
- med (of an organ or part) not functioning normally
- (esp of a family) characterized by a breakdown of normal or beneficial relationships between members of the group
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for dysfunctional
adj.
1917, from dysfunction + -al (1). Related: Dysfunctionally.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper