mismanage

American  

[mis-man-ij] / mɪsˈmæn ɪdʒ /

verb (used with or without object)

mismanaged, mismanaging

1. to manage incompetently or dishonestly.

   to mismanage funds.

   Synonyms:

   maladminister, botch, bungle, mishandle

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mismanage British  

/ ˌmɪsˈmænɪdʒ /

verb

1. (tr) to manage badly or wrongly

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Other Word Forms

• mismanagement noun
• mismanager noun

Etymology

Origin of mismanage

First recorded in 1680–90; mis- ¹ + manage

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.

Example Sentences

Deirdre said the reason people are going to food banks is "not because we mismanage money. It's not because we can't budget. It's because there isn't enough to budget."

From BBC • May 24, 2025

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

If humans mismanage the land by recklessly razing forests or by farming in unsustainable ways, emissions that warm the planet can increase.

From Washington Post • Aug. 14, 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

In the same way we may manage or mismanage our brains.

From Industrial Progress and Human Economics by Hartness, James

Related Words

• botch
• bungle
• mishandle
• misinterpret