Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Misconduct or wrongdoing, especially by a public official.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Evil-doing; the doing of that which ought not to be done; wrongful conduct, especially official misconduct; violation of a public trust or obligation; specifically, the doing of an act which is positively unlawful or wrongful, in contradistinction to misfeasance, or the doing of a lawful act in a wrongful manner. The term is often inappropriately used instead of misfeasance.
Wiktionary
- n. wrongdoing
- n. Misconduct or wrongdoing, especially by a public official that causes damage.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The doing of an act which a person ought not to do; evil conduct; an illegal deed.
WordNet 3.0
- n. wrongful conduct by a public official
Etymologies
- Anglo-Norman malfaisance, from Old French malfaisant, malfeasant, present participle of malfaire, to do evil, from Latin malefacere; see malefactor.
Examples
“If you're a professional, exposure of your malfeasance is the critic's job.”
“In the REAL WORLD this kind of malfeasance is scienter for a class action.”
“But all this malfeasance is done by state and local governments.”
““But all this malfeasance is done by state and local governments.””
“Their shady deals and malfeasance is ruining our Middle Class and destroying our working poor.”
“The inability to get to the bottom of things -- or the top -- when military malfeasance is at issue is an instance of the "culture of impunity.”
“How much criminality and malfeasance is required to cut these urban parasites off from the money they can't raise on their own?”
“If fraud and malfeasance is proven, it should be severely prosecuted.”
The 1990's Bubble Economy, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty
“Their acute awareness of quite possibly life-threatening punitive sanctions from Abd al-Rahman for any real or perceived malfeasance is reflected in the anxious and agitated tone of the Durrani appointees 'communication about the subsidy.”
Connecting Histories in Afghanistan: Market Relations and State Formation on a Colonial Frontier
“Unfortunately, prosecutorial bullying malfeasance is the style of the day.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘malfeasance’.
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Courtroom Speak
Legal glossary with special focus on courtroom vocabulary
writ of execution, writ of certiorari, witness, waiver, warrant, voir dire, victim witness as..., writ, victim compensati..., verdict, venue, victim advocate and 792 more...
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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cicatrix
scar tissue
minatory, naira, Cluniac, embracive, prolix, hierophant, timorous, adduce, veracious, dysphoric, sang-froid, vitiate and 414 more...
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March 2012
panache, evanescent, erogenous, vestibule, malfeasance, lacuna, blithering, incubate, breech, tabernacle, pearly, upholstery and 79 more...
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Words to describe behavior
aberrant, hubris, calumny, sequester, ebullient, malfeasance, salubrious, foible, mercurial, laconic, fugacity, recalcitrant and 7 more...
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In the News
Words from politics, news, and business
sedition, juridical, feckless, austerity, debenture, sovereign, subterfuge, amicus, obfuscate, transparency, usurp, paradox and 26 more...
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jimwood60's list
Fav Work words
ameliorated, lemmings, facile, incongruous, bulbous, spurious, fetid, malfeasance, inopportune
Gexe Such a great word, in meaning and sound. Feb 8, 2009
bilby "Hats off to the Illinois governor for shooting so high above and beyond the normal arc of political malfeasance that he's probably annoyed NASA by interfering with satellite traffic. After years of highlighting nuances and scrutinizing minute distinctions, it's downright thrilling to finally find someone acting crookeder than a dump truck full of dissembled wire hangers. Excuse me. I mean, finally finding someone GETTING CAUGHT acting crookeder than a dump truck full of dissembled wire hangers. It's not every day the FBI arrests a sitting governor at his house at six in the morning: We're talking movie of the week here. I see Casey Affleck in a bad wig. With Aaron Eckhart as Patrick Fitzgerald."
- Will Durst, 'Giving Governors a Bad Name', caglepost.com, 14 Dec 2008. Dec 15, 2008