misconduct
Americannoun
-
improper or wrong behavior.
Numerous accusations of sexual misconduct have blighted his campaign.
Her license was revoked for professional misconduct and poor professional performance.
- Synonyms:
- misstep, misdeed, misbehavior, wrongdoing
-
unlawful behavior by an official in regard to their office, or by a person in the administration of justice, such as a lawyer, witness, or juror; malfeasance.
A complaint was filed against the prosecutor, alleging misconduct in the case.
verb (used with object)
-
misconducts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
misconducted,
past participle, past
-
misconducting
present participle
-
to mismanage.
-
to misbehave (oneself ).
noun
verb
-
to conduct (oneself) in such a way
-
to manage (something) badly
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
misconductsimple
-
misconductssimple
-
have misconductedperfect
-
has misconductedperfect
-
am misconductingprogressive
-
are misconductingprogressive
-
is misconductingprogressive
-
have been misconductingperfect progressive
-
has been misconductingperfect progressive
Past
-
misconductedsimple
-
had misconductedperfect
-
was misconductingprogressive
-
were misconductingprogressive
-
had been misconductingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of misconduct
Explanation
Misconduct is any kind of bad, unethical, or illegal activity. When there's misconduct, someone is doing something wrong. Since conduct is behavior, misconduct is behavior that's not quite right: some kind of shady or criminal conduct. If an accountant cooked the books — lied about finances — that's misconduct. A police officer taking a bribe is guilty of misconduct. Often, misconduct specifically refers to someone who does improper things on behalf of someone else, like the misconduct of a dishonest lawyer.
Vocabulary lists containing misconduct
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mis-
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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:
Barrera was not accused of sexual misconduct but was swept out of office alongside Kasparian in 2018.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
"Individuals across the UK and Canada were dismissed for gross misconduct following the sharing of confidential company information, not because of alleged trade union membership or activity," it stated.
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026
The 23 claimants who were dismissed last year for what Rockstar Games called "gross misconduct" have taken the gaming giant to court for unlawful dismissal.
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026
Chavez-DeRemer resigned in April—a little more than a year into the job—amid growing reports of workplace misconduct.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
And she continues, after a few more sentences, that the sum of the misconduct of Reggie and his allies enabled Reggie to go on a mission, which could somehow protect him from justice.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
Florida was whistled for 14 penalties, including two misconducts by Tkachuk, who insisted the Panthers are simply playing their brand of physical hockey.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 6, 2023
Both hits resulted in game misconducts, but it didn’t appear further punishment was coming for Lomberg the way it came for Oleksiak.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 13, 2022
All three Florida goals were of the gritty variety from inside the crease, on a night where tempers flared with 19 penalties — four of them misconducts.
From Fox News ● Mar. 4, 2022
“Those misconducts, they are just unacceptable,” Rojas said of the allegations against Ellis.
From New York Times ● Feb. 17, 2021
The criminal who has completed his sentence ought to be deemed to have purged his offence, and has a right to return to the community and obtain work until, if ever, he again misconducts himself.
From The Empire of the East by H. B. (Helen Barrett) Montgomery
The Indian war they alleged was misconducted, and unnecessarily prolonged for the purposes of expending the public money, and of affording a pretext for augmenting the military establishment, and increasing the revenue.
From The Life of George Washington, Vol. 4 Commander in Chief of the American Forces During the War which Established the Independence of his Country and First President of the United States by John Marshall
“Lady Ongar has never misconducted herself—” said Harry.
From The Claverings by Anthony Trollope
The apparent insinuation that he had misconducted himself while on his parole of good behaviour, was one of the things he could least endure.
From Hair-Breadth Escapes The Adventures of Three Boys in South Africa by H.C. Adams
His defense was an alibi, an attempt, that is, to prove that he was elsewhere on the night when he was alleged to have misconducted himself at Rome.
From Roman life in the days of Cicero by Alfred John Church
Two legions were left in Egypt to protect them if they were faithful, or to coerce them if they misconducted themselves.
From Caesar: a Sketch by James Anthony Froude
If that's agreed, detectives will then look for evidence that the incident in question saw the suspect "wilfully" neglecting to perform their duty or wilfully misconducting themselves in some other way.
From BBC ● Feb. 19, 2026
Tilt, 31, pleaded guilty at Birmingham Crown Court to wilfully misconducting himself in public office.
From BBC ● Dec. 14, 2022
Tilt, of Barley Green, Birmingham, admitted wilfully misconducting himself in public office at Birmingham Crown Court on Friday.
From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2022
Thus a lot of people are misconducting themselves like this, and would enjoy programming that makes them feel represented in the media.
From New York Times ● Nov. 29, 2017
Down near the end of the line he had seen one of his own men misconducting himself, snivelling and crying like a baby,—a fine husky boy of eighteen who had never given any trouble.
From One of Ours by Willa Sibert Cather
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.
