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:
They badly underestimated her massive star power, and they underestimated how much their decades of misrule had alienated most of the population.
From BBC ● Jan. 14, 2026
Lawmaker Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, first deputy head of the parliamentary committee on anti-corruption policy, said the shakeup partly sought to demonstrate that Kyiv saw cracking down on misrule as a key element of its Western integration.
From Reuters ● Jan. 25, 2023
Just ask Haitians in Miami who have long suffered under terror and misrule, or ask the Central Americans who fled civil wars.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 28, 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
In 1875 the misrule of the Sultan led to the insurrection of Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Bulgaria.
From The Roman Empire in the Light of Prophecy The Rise, Progress, and End of the Fourth World-empire by W. E. Vine
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
Mr Kabila has misruled Congo for the past 17 years, after he took over from his father, who was shot by a bodyguard.
From Economist ● Jun. 1, 2017
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
But the conquest was not permanent, the Norwegians ultimately rising successfully against the tyranny of Alfifa, who misruled the country in the name of her infant son Sweyn.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 2 "Camorra" to "Cape Colony" by Various
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