misbehave

[ mis-bi-heyv ]

/ ˌmɪs bɪˈheɪv /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for: misbehave / misbehaved / misbehaving on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object), mis·be·haved, mis·be·hav·ing.

to behave badly or improperly: The children misbehaved during our visit.

verb (used with object), mis·be·haved, mis·be·hav·ing.

to conduct (oneself) without regard for good manners or accepted moral standards: Several of the guests misbehaved themselves.

QUIZ

ARE YOU A TRUE BLUE CHAMPION OF THESE "BLUE" SYNONYMS?

We could talk until we're blue in the face about this quiz on words for the color "blue," but we think you should take the quiz and find out if you're a whiz at these colorful terms.

Question 1 of 8

Which of the following words describes “sky blue”?

navy

beryl

azure

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Meet Grammar Coach

Write or paste your essay, email, or story into Grammar Coach and get grammar help

Improve Your Writing

Meet Grammar CoachImprove Your Writing

Origin of misbehave

late Middle English word dating back to 1425–75; see origin at mis-¹, behave

OTHER WORDS FROM misbehave

mis·be·hav·er, noun

Words nearby misbehave

misappropriate, misappropriation, misarrange, misbecome, misbegotten, misbehave, misbehavior, misbelief, misbelieve, misbrand, misc.

How to use misbehave in a sentence

If a student’s grades slip or they misbehave, they can lose tens of thousands of dollars of their scholarship.
“I Finally Got to the Mountaintop and I Failed”|by Bob Fernandez, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Charlotte Keith, Spotlight PA|June 10, 2021|ProPublica
As anyone over the age of, say, 8 should know, other children misbehaving doesn’t give you the green light to misbehave yourself.
What does it mean that Republicans keep blaming the left for Jan. 6?|Philip Bump|May 28, 2021|Washington Post
So next time your child misbehaves, think of Elizabeth Tegumiar and simply walk away.
I Was Constantly Arguing With My Child. Then I Learned the “TEAM” Method of Calmer Parenting|Michaeleen Doucleff|March 6, 2021|Time
If Facebook misbehaved, the trust would retract the company’s access to its members’ data.
How data trusts can protect privacy|Katie McLean|February 24, 2021|MIT Technology Review

In the case of GameStop, both the cynics and sentimentalists have been misbehaving.
Bitcoin, stocks and crude take off as the markets brace for a wave of stimulus checks|Bernhard Warner|February 8, 2021|Fortune
The discussion of race in the league just serves to distract from why players misbehave.
Ex-NFL Linebacker: We Talk Around Race, Not About It|Carl Banks|October 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He is, you sense, trying not to misbehave, while remaining human and not becoming a Royal cyborg.
Prince Harry Should Be King: The Royal Family’s Ace Card|Tim Teeman|June 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And yet it is the privilege of the prince and the sultan to misbehave.
How the Sultan of Brunei Violated His Sharia Law With Me|Jillian Lauren|May 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A boy might be excused for that so long as he didn't misbehave.
Warrior Gap|Charles King
To allow the child to misbehave without instantly making it unpleasantly conscious of the fact would be to spoil it.
A Treatise on Parents and Children|George Bernard Shaw
But my dear, you don't meant to say that all bachelor clergymen misbehave themselves.
Barchester Towers|Anthony Trollope
But if servants misbehave themselves, or leave their places, not being regularly discharged, they ought to be amerced or punished.
Everybody's Business is Nobody's Business|Daniel Defoe
If he does not misbehave and keeps out of a lawsuit, he rarely comes in contact with his rulers.
A Wayfarer in China|Elizabeth Kendall

British Dictionary definitions for misbehave

misbehave

/ (ˌmɪsbɪˈheɪv) /

verb

to behave (oneself) badly

Derived forms of misbehave

misbehaver, nounmisbehaviour (ˌmɪsbɪˈheɪvjə), noun

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

misbehave

Origin of misbehave

OTHER WORDS FROM misbehave

Words nearby misbehave

Words related to misbehave

How to use misbehave in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for misbehave

Derived forms of misbehave