misbehavior
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of misbehavior
Explanation
When you do something wrong or bad, that's misbehavior. If your little brother hides your homework, intentionally dumps his cereal on the floor, and draws on the walls with permanent marker, you might say he's an expert in misbehavior. Whether an activity is mere naughtiness or more significant misconduct, it all falls under the category of misbehavior. When a politician pays someone to stay quiet about his misbehavior, he's added additional misbehavior to the record. If you know that behavior means the way you act, it's easy to see what happens when you add the prefix mis-, meaning "bad".
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.
His misbehavior is minor — irritating but untenable when stacked together — like bouncing a ball against a wall, disappearing for fun or climbing on the roof.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 24, 2026
Now, think of that with gasoline — enough material for a master’s thesis in human misbehavior.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 18, 2026
The tuna bonds were among a series of costly legal battles and probes over banker misbehavior at Credit Suisse in its final years.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 1, 2025
The Gateway Pundit The Gateway Pundit often makes lazy mistakes: It once falsely accused a Washington Post editor of misbehavior during a confirmation hearing when that reporter wasn’t at that hearing.
From Slate • Oct. 24, 2025
Sometimes parents used them in irritation at a child’s misbehavior, indicating that mischief made one unworthy of a name.
From "The Giver" by Lois Lowry
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.
