mismanage

verb

mis·​man·​age ˌmis-ˈma-nij 

mismanaged; mismanaging

transitive verb

: to manage (something) wrongly or poorly

mismanage a business

… started thinking that maybe employees are sometimes mismanaged because they let themselves be mismanaged. They don't fight back.

—A. J. Anderson

… even those professional Pollyannas who publicly find reason to praise the current municipal administration shake their heads in private and wonder how long we can go on deliberately mismanaging our affairs.

—Brendan Gill

mismanagement

ˌmis-ˈma-nij-mənt 

noun

plural mismanagements

financial mismanagement of the company

Synonyms

• maladminister
• misconduct
• misgovern
• mishandle
• misrule

Examples of mismanage in a Sentence

the business was mismanaged so seriously that it eventually had to declare bankruptcy

Recent Examples on the Web

Brooks, running for a third term, argues the village’s finances have been mismanaged, with funds diverted causing delays in community projects at the expense of residents. —Samantha Moilanen, Chicago Tribune, 27 Mar. 2025

The dispute turned into a discussion of how Zuckerberg, in Wynn-Williams’ eyes, had mismanaged Facebook. —Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 21 Mar. 2025

One center mismanaged an IUD placement in a patient, leaving her with months of sharp pain and bleeding. —Susan Bane, National Review, 25 Feb. 2025

Wayde Hunter, president of the North Valley Coalition of Concerned Citizens, has long said Sunshine Canyon has mismanaged its operations in the northern San Fernando Valley. —Tony Briscoe, Los Angeles Times, 7 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1651, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for mismanage

• manage
• tannage

Kids Definition

mismanage

verb

mis·​man·​age

(ˈ)mis-ˈman-ij

: to manage badly or improperly

mismanagement

-mənt

noun