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Synonyms

malfeasance

American  
[mal-fee-zuhns] / mælˈfi zəns /

noun

Law.

  1. the performance of an act that is legally unjustified, harmful, or contrary to law, especially by a public official or a person in a position of public trust.

malfeasance British  
/ mælˈfiːzəns /

noun

  1. law the doing of a wrongful or illegal act, esp by a public official Compare misfeasance nonfeasance

"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

Other Word Forms

  • malfeasant adjective

Etymology

Origin of malfeasance

First recorded in 1660–70; earlier malefeasance. See male-, feasance

Compare meaning

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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.

Even when investigators have validated aspects of complaints, they’ve found no evidence of malfeasance.

From Salon • Feb. 10, 2026

In the world of family inheritance, such financial malfeasance is not unheard of.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 2, 2026

A president can only fire Fed board members "for cause," traditionally understood to mean malfeasance or dereliction of duty.

From Barron's • Jan. 25, 2026

Mike Bonin, a former city councilman, said he believed Price’s alleged malfeasance should be handled by the city’s Ethics Commission — not criminal prosecutors.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 23, 2026

“This malfeasance must be stopped” was what the unassuming janitor Alfred T. Slipper always said before he was transformed into the amazing Incandesto and became a towering, crime-fighting pillar of light.

From "Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures" by Kate DiCamillo

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.