mismanage
Americanverb (used with or without object)
-
mismanages,
present (3rd person singular)
-
mismanaged,
past participle, past
-
mismanaging
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
mismanagesimple
-
mismanagessimple
-
have mismanagedperfect
-
has mismanagedperfect
-
am mismanagingprogressive
-
are mismanagingprogressive
-
is mismanagingprogressive
-
have been mismanagingperfect progressive
-
has been mismanagingperfect progressive
Past
-
mismanagedsimple
-
had mismanagedperfect
-
was mismanagingprogressive
-
were mismanagingprogressive
-
had been mismanagingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of mismanage
Explanation
To mismanage is to handle something badly. A company will go bankrupt if its leaders mismanage it. If you mismanage your allowance, you’ll be out of money in no time. To manage is to handle or run something, so to mismanage is to make a mess of something you're doing or running. A general manager could mismanage a basketball team by trading away good players. The President can mismanage the country by making political and economic mistakes. You can mismanage your time if you goof off and don't get your work done. To mismanage is to mishandle.
Vocabulary lists containing mismanage
mis-
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
mis-
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
mis-
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
Yann Leriche, chief executive of Eurotunnel's owner Getlink, said the change was something the business "cannot mismanage", with problems "not an option".
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2023
WildEarth Guardians in their complaint blame “a century of unsustainable water uses and mismanage of the Grande” for conditions that barely allow the minnow and other protected species to survive.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 30, 2022
I didn’t understand how people with enough money could so easily mismanage it or make monumentally bad financial decisions.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 30, 2022
As he approaches a likely third term in power that would start next year, it could be politically damaging if his government were to mismanage Evergrande.
From New York Times ● Sep. 26, 2021
Would Durgan fail at the pinch and mismanage it so as to give the alarm?
From The Grafters by Francis Lynde
Reporting from The New York Times has highlighted the way that the jail complex mismanages the stationing of its nearly 8,000 uniformed staff members, with some rarely interacting with detainees at all.
From New York Times ● May 9, 2022
Wired’s investigation is a deep dive that demonstrates how your data can be at risk if a massive company mismanages internal access to it or carelessly leaves it open to outsiders.
From The Verge ● Nov. 19, 2021
"It’s not uncommon that a conservator mismanages money and profits off of that," Kaplan said.
From Fox News ● Oct. 1, 2021
The man who manages his neighbor's affairs mismanages his own.
From The Sowers by Henry Seton Merriman
I have been very happy sometimes during the past year; and whatever the blind Fate that mismanages the world may elect to demand in payment, I shall not haggle.
From The Cords of Vanity A Comedy of Shirking by James Branch Cabell
Germain mismanaged the land campaign against the American rebels.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 2026
"Prime Minister Anthony Albanese put her in this process. But it has been mismanaged by Sussan Ley."
From BBC ● Jan. 21, 2026
U.S. prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into Powell over allegations that he mismanaged a building renovation.
From Barron's ● Jan. 16, 2026
He also mismanaged promotional cards, gave unpurchased merchandise to clients and abused the company’s corporate credit card, according to the complaint.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 12, 2025
The Osage were also able to retrieve at least a portion of the oil funds mismanaged over decades by the U.S. government.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
Former workers said development of the game was chaotic and accused its boss, Leslie Benzies, of mismanaging the studio.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026
The group were were being punished for "mismanaging" the battery exchanges for Spiro motorbikes, which they denied.
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026
Western Nexperia officials also contended in Dutch court that Wingtech’s Zhang was mismanaging the company and had conflicts of interest.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2025
In his lawsuit, Michél is accusing Hill and MLH of grossly mismanaging the tour, including its setup, marketing, budgeting and payment of tour expenses, and blamed her for the tour’s “dismal” ticket sales.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2024
For weeks before Garfield's death, medical journals and general newspapers had accused Bliss of mismanaging his care.
From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
