Library / English Dictionary

MISCONDUCT

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Activity that transgresses moral or civil law

Example:

he denied any wrongdoing

Synonyms:

actus reus; misconduct; wrongdoing; wrongful conduct

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("misconduct" is a kind of...):

activity (any specific behavior)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "misconduct"):

infringement; violation (an act that disregards an agreement or a right)

criminal maintenance; maintenance (the unauthorized interference in a legal action by a person having no interest in it (as by helping one party with money or otherwise to continue the action) so as to obstruct justice or promote unnecessary litigation or unsettle the peace of the community)

champerty (an unethical agreement between an attorney and client that the attorney would sue and pay the costs of the client's suit in return for a portion of the damages awarded)

falsification; misrepresentation (a willful perversion of facts)

dishonesty; knavery (lack of honesty; acts of lying or cheating or stealing)

evildoing; transgression (the act of transgressing; the violation of a law or a duty or moral principle)

infliction (an act causing pain or damage)

iniquity; injustice; shabbiness; unfairness (an unjust act)

injury (an act that causes someone or something to receive physical damage)

injury (wrongdoing that violates another's rights and is unjustly inflicted)

perversion (the action of perverting something (turning it to a wrong use))

malpractice (professional wrongdoing that results in injury or damage)

malpractice (a wrongful act that the actor had no right to do; improper professional conduct)

misfeasance (doing a proper act in a wrongful or injurious manner)

malfeasance (wrongful conduct by a public official)

dereliction (willful negligence)

misbehavior; misbehaviour; misdeed (improper or wicked or immoral behavior)

malversation (misconduct in public office)

civil wrong; tort ((law) any wrongdoing for which an action for damages may be brought)

encroachment; intrusion; trespass; usurpation; violation (entry to another's property without right or permission)

brutalisation; brutalization (the activity of treating someone savagely or viciously)

Derivation:

misconduct (behave badly)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Bad or dishonest management by persons supposed to act on another's behalf

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("misconduct" is a kind of...):

direction; management (the act of managing something)

Derivation:

misconduct (manage badly or incompetently)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Manage badly or incompetently

Example:

The funds were mismanaged

Synonyms:

misconduct; mishandle; mismanage

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "misconduct" is one way to...):

care; deal; handle; manage (be in charge of, act on, or dispose of)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

misconduct (bad or dishonest management by persons supposed to act on another's behalf)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Behave badly

Example:

The children misbehaved all morning

Synonyms:

misbehave; misconduct; misdemean

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "misconduct" is one way to...):

act; move (perform an action, or work out or perform (an action))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "misconduct"):

fall from grace (revert back to bad behavior after a period of good behavior)

act up; carry on (misbehave badly; act in a silly or improper way)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

misconduct (activity that transgresses moral or civil law)

Credits

 Context examples: 

I acquit Edward of essential misconduct.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

Feelings rather natural than heroic possessed her; instead of considering her own dignity injured by this ready condemnation—instead of proudly resolving, in conscious innocence, to show her resentment towards him who could harbour a doubt of it, to leave to him all the trouble of seeking an explanation, and to enlighten him on the past only by avoiding his sight, or flirting with somebody else—she took to herself all the shame of misconduct, or at least of its appearance, and was only eager for an opportunity of explaining its cause.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Her indignation would have been still stronger than it was, had she not witnessed that embarrassment which seemed to speak a consciousness of his own misconduct, and prevented her from believing him so unprincipled as to have been sporting with the affections of her sister from the first, without any design that would bear investigation.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)