mismanage

verb

mis·​man·​age ˌmis-ˈma-nij How to pronounce mismanage (audio)
mismanaged; mismanaging
Synonyms of mismanagenext

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 How to pronounce mismanage (audio)
noun
plural mismanagements
financial mismanagement of the company

Synonyms of mismanage

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Examples of mismanage in a Sentence

the business was mismanaged so seriously that it eventually had to declare bankruptcy
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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Conservatives have long criticized it as wasteful, mismanaged and overrun. — Terrence McCoy, Washington Post, 17 Oct. 2026 The Eagles should’ve been in position to kick the winning goal as time expired but the offense mismanaged the sequence leading up to Elliott’s attempt. — ABC News, 12 Oct. 2026 The Broward School District repeatedly mismanaged a competitive bidding process to exclude one technology vendor and later steer business toward another, the county’s top watchdog has concluded. — Scott Travis, Miami Herald, 2 Oct. 2026 In nearly a third of petitions, beneficiaries requested a detailed accounting of the trust’s finances, which Horton said reflects beneficiaries who suspected their trustees were mismanaging funds or ripping them off. — Hayley Cuccinello, CNBC, 25 Sep. 2026 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

Rhymes for mismanage

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Browse Nearby Words

mismade
mismanage
mismanagement
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Mismanage.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mismanage. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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Kids Definition

mismanage

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