misrule
Americannoun
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bad or unwise rule; misgovernment.
-
disorder or lawlessness.
verb (used with object)
verb
noun
-
inefficient or inhumane government
-
disorder
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of misrule
1300–50; Middle English misreulen (v.), misreule (noun). See mis- 1, rule
Vocabulary lists containing misrule
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:
In April 1930, Gandhi concluded his pivotal salt march, breaking the British monopoly on salt production - a charged symbol of colonial misrule.
From BBC ● Nov. 29, 2025
"I ask for time, valuable time to rescue the country from corruption and misrule."
From Reuters ● Dec. 8, 2022
“The pattern of many leaders is to be exalted in life and forgotten after death,” the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said in a eulogy that seemed to speak to a world plagued by misrule.
From New York Times ● Sep. 19, 2022
They accuse him and his powerful family, which includes several siblings who until recently held top government positions, of precipitating the crisis through corruption and misrule.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 7, 2022
When Napoleonic misrule at last exasperated Germany into resistance, the seeds which French influence had sown had already taken firm root in the German soil.
From Creed And Deed A Series of Discourses by Felix Adler
They also want an overhaul of a system of governance, saying successive administrations since independence from Britain in 1948 have misruled the country leading to economic and social crises.
From Seattle Times ● May 29, 2022
It is also remarkable that Miss Suu Kyi should sit down and scribble on banknotes with a man who misruled her country for so long.
From Economist ● Dec. 10, 2015
Far from being at the heart of a new Asia, sullen and misruled Central Asia languishes, for now, on the periphery.
From Economist ● Aug. 20, 2015
There will be no dramatic moment of closure on the era of Muhammad Hosni al-Sayyid Mubarak, the man who ruled and misruled Egypt for 30 years before being overthrown in early 2011.
From Newsweek ● Jun. 25, 2012
During this time the inhabitants of Gascony suffered severely from the ravages of both parties, and the nobles ruled or misruled without restraint.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 4 "G" to "Gaskell, Elizabeth" by Various
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