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

An audit found that Richmond allegedly mismanaged a streetlight maintenance contract, leading to $1.2 million in questionable charges. —Sabrina Moreno, Axios, 5 Dec. 2024

Dealers are furious and say that parent company Stellantis is ruining a good thing by jacking up prices and mismanaging its vehicle lineup. —Daniel Wine, CNN, 21 Nov. 2024

Bost, a Republican, accused VA of mismanaging its budget, scaring veterans and lying to Congress. —Cory Smith, Baltimore Sun, 12 Nov. 2024

The historic bond has caused a stir in the HISD community, with many families and staff members afraid the bond will be mismanaged by Superintendent Mike Miles, who has come under fire for his management style. —Allyson Ackerman, Chron, 10 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1651, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

mismanage

verb

mis·​man·​age

(ˈ)mis-ˈman-ij

: to manage badly or improperly

mismanagement

-mənt

noun