mismanage

verb

mis·​man·​age ˌmis-ˈma-nij How to pronounce mismanage (audio)
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 noun
plural mismanagements
financial mismanagement of the company

Examples of mismanage in a Sentence

the business was mismanaged so seriously that it eventually had to declare bankruptcy
Recent Examples on the Web
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Several months later, on July 24, co-owner Roger N. Behle Jr. filed a complaint alleging Anstead and Bednarski mismanaged the company's finances. Mackenzie Schmidt, People.com, 24 Oct. 2024 Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan repeatedly mismanaged his currency by sacking central bank governors who pushed for rate hikes. Christiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 9 Aug. 2024 The accountant mismanaged the Oscar winner’s funds, bringing Pacino’s savings from a staggering $50 million to zero dollars. Zack Sharf, Variety, 16 Oct. 2024 But in 2013, they were accused of fraud and sued by a former investor for mismanaging company funds. Jean E. Palmieri, WWD, 2 July 2024 See all Example Sentences for mismanage 

Word History

First Known Use

1651, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of mismanage was in 1651

Dictionary Entries Near mismanage

Cite this Entry

“Mismanage.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mismanage. Accessed 8 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

mismanage

verb
mis·​man·​age
(ˈ)mis-ˈman-ij
: to manage badly or improperly
mismanagement
-mənt
noun

More from Merriam-Webster on mismanage

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!