malfunction
Americannoun
verb (used without object)
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
malfunctionsimple
-
malfunctionssimple
-
have malfunctionedperfect
-
has malfunctionedperfect
-
am malfunctioningprogressive
-
are malfunctioningprogressive
-
is malfunctioningprogressive
-
have been malfunctioningperfect progressive
-
has been malfunctioningperfect progressive
Past
-
malfunctionedsimple
-
had malfunctionedperfect
-
was malfunctioningprogressive
-
were malfunctioningprogressive
-
had been malfunctioningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of malfunction
Explanation
To malfunction is to fail to work properly. If your toaster spits out a charred, smoky mess no matter what setting it’s on, your toaster is definitely malfunctioning. When something functions, it works. Adding the prefix -mal (meaning "bad") to function indicates bad or unsuccessful functioning. When a computer malfunctions, you could lose your data. A malfunctioning car could cause an accident or leave you stranded. This word is typically used in reference to technology, tools, and gadgets. However, if you make a stupid mistake, you might joke that your brain has malfunctioned.
Vocabulary lists containing malfunction
"A Sound of Thunder" by Ray Bradbury
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A Thousand Splendid Suns
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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.
See Examples For:
“A fireworks malfunction did occur during last night’s post-match celebration at Angel City FC’s game vs. Orlando at BMO Stadium,” the team said in a statement to The Times.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 5, 2026
The college added there are numerous reports of older patients being brought in after collapsing because of dehydration and said its members have linked the extreme heat to causing machines and equipment to malfunction.
From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026
Earlier, Qatar's interior ministry had described Sunday's incident as an "internal explosion" and a "technical malfunction".
From Barron's ● Jun. 22, 2026
"Showing that the process of protein production loses fidelity with aging provides a kind of underlying rationale for why all these other processes start to malfunction with age," said Frydman.
From Science Daily ● May 29, 2026
“It looks like we have a temporary malfunction, but it will soon be fixed.”
From "Warcross" by Marie Lu
Tech companies are making progress in fixing humanoid runners’ malfunctions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 20, 2026
In a tongue-in-cheek post to Instagram, Glass Animals - best known for their 2020 sleeper-hit Heat Waves - claimed culpability for the lunar lavatory malfunctions.
From BBC ● Apr. 10, 2026
Those recorded cues act as a fail-safe against technical malfunctions during the broadcast, though the orchestra aims to play everything live.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 13, 2026
Satellites passing through this region are exposed to elevated levels of radiation, increasing the risk of technical malfunctions, hardware damage, and even temporary outages.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 25, 2026
On one wall, flashers and safety overrides blinked to indicate that there were electric malfunctions and topside failures, probably from having the conning deck go under.
From "Ship Breaker" by Paolo Bacigalupi
On May 28, a fiery mushroom cloud enveloped Cape Canaveral as New Glenn’s engine malfunctioned during a pre-flight test, blowing up the rocket, launch pad and other nearby infrastructure.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 10, 2026
The vehicle had coasted through space but was not in exactly the correct orbit after one of its engines malfunctioned during an initial burn.
From Barron's ● May 22, 2026
“The likelihood that the M767A1 fuze malfunctioned is a statistical anomaly that was outside any reasonable probability.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 16, 2026
The roughly 40 data centers, which had been using enough electricity to supply more than one million homes, simultaneously switched to backup power sources in February 2025, when a high-voltage power line malfunctioned.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 1, 2026
During the first orbit, the automatic control system malfunctioned.
From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson
The director, recently freed from a malfunctioning elevator in a pithily Andersonian incident, made a brief appearance onstage with Murray in his regal white suit.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2026
I have a similar complaint, but this relates to a toilet that is malfunctioning.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 10, 2026
The party had weak local roots, "a malfunctioning party machine" and was mired in legal troubles, she told AFP.
From Barron's ● Mar. 23, 2026
The robot is malfunctioning and in need of a reset.
From BBC ● Jan. 22, 2026
“Everything’s going to be okay, sweetheart,” she says because she’s a people-mechanic and always knows when I’m malfunctioning.
From "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson
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.
