Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Poorly suited to a particular function or situation.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Of any evolving or learning entity, not well adapted for its environment.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

mal- +‎ adapted

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Examples

  • Thus, risks deriving from global climate change, global population growth, pollution, and so on, can be rendered more visible to the perceptually "maladapted" individual.

    Ethical Technology 2010

  • It has been woefully maladapted for quite some time.

    Matthew Yglesias » 2017 2010

  • Once I told my young sons (6 and 8) that albino animals and maladapted animals can actually hurt the breeding lines, they were "all in" for SHOOT.

    Would You Shoot an Albino Game Animal? 2009

  • Once I told my young sons (6 and 8) that albino animals and maladapted animals can actually hurt the breeding lines, they were "all in" for SHOOT.

    Would You Shoot an Albino Game Animal? 2009

  • But news organizations were also maladapted for change because of the way they were organized.

    Stop The Presses! 2010

  • Among academics, a debate continues about whether psychiatric disorders are caused by poverty (causation) or whether individuals with those disorders are socially and psychologically maladapted and therefore poor as a consequence (selection).

    Dan Agin: More Than Genes V: Fetal Origins of Transgenerational Poverty 2009

  • My argument for this is amply reinforced by all the myriad ways in which our stone-age brains are maladapted for modern mass social environments.

    More Aesthetics Hal Duncan 2007

  • In the right words, these contentions can join with the copious facts available in the public record to bring about doubt even among the most committed White supremacist, fundamentalist, and otherwise maladapted working class voter.

    Georgia Needs a Nice Nerd December 2--A Post-Veteran's Day Meditation 2008

  • It is felt that the alcoholic, addict, or otherwise maladapted individual cannot be helped until he takes responsibility for his own behavior.

    Cambodia: Thoughts on Foreign Aid 2008

  • It is clear that maladapted and mainly supply-oriented technological approaches will, at least in the medium-term, fail to realize the desired development benefits.

    Global Environment Outlook (GEO-4)~ Chapter 7 2008

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