misaligned

American  

[mis-uh-lahynd] / ˌmɪs əˈlaɪnd /

adjective

1. improperly or badly adjusted or aligned; out of line or position.

   The benefits of correcting misaligned teeth are many.

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misaligned British  

/ ˌmɪsəˈlaɪnd /

adjective

1. placed or positioned wrongly or badly

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Usage

What does misaligned mean? Misaligned describes someone or something that is improperly adjusted or out of its proper form or position. Misaligned is frequently used in a figurative sense, especially to describe goals or ideas that don’t work together. For example, if your parents’ goal for you is to get good grades and your goal is to do as little schoolwork as possible, your parents’ and your goals are likely misaligned because the surest way to get good grades is to do the schoolwork. People might also be figuratively said to be misaligned, especially in relationships of all sorts. If you like staying up late and listening to loud music but your roommate likes going to bed early and a quiet room, the two of you might be misaligned—at least as roommates.Literally, something that is misaligned is out of its normal orientation or order in some way. Picture a row of chairs. If all of them are in a straight line, we say that they are aligned. If some of the chairs are farther forward than others, we say that the row of chairs is misaligned. Two or more things that can be arranged in a specific way in relation to each other, such as in a line or on an angle, can be misaligned. In medicine, one of the most common uses of misaligned is in reference to bones not lining up correctly. When a bone is out of place in the body it can lead to stiffness, pain, and other problems.Example: My teeth were so misaligned that I needed braces to fix them.

Other Word Forms

• misalignment noun

Etymology

Origin of misaligned

First recorded in 1915–20; misalign ( def. ) + -ed ²

Example Sentences

“On this one issue, I don’t think we could be more misaligned.”

From Los Angeles Times

The result is a market in which preferences are private, incentives are misaligned and reliable information is hard to come by.

From The Wall Street Journal

One committee member in favour of the change, Retsef Levi, said the US hepatitis B vaccine policy was "misaligned" with other countries around the world.

From BBC

But the government and the CPS were both criticised for a process "beset by confusion and misaligned expectations".

From Barron's

Instead, it was beset by "shambolic" mismanagement and "confusion and misaligned expectations".

From BBC