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. law Misconduct or wrongdoing, especially by a public official that causes damage.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Law) 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
- From Old French malfaisance, derived from malfaire, maufaire (“do evil”), from Latin malefaciō ("I do evil"), from male ("evilly") + faciō ("do, make"). (Wiktionary)
- Anglo-Norman malfaisance, from Old French malfaisant, malfeasant, present participle of malfaire, to do evil, from Latin malefacere; see malefactor. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
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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POL - scandalous (single words only)
acolyte, archrival, backhander, backlash, baksheesh, bashing, boo, bribery, cadre, chicanery, clash, coercion and 256 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 4087 more...
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501
Classic
aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august, banal, boisterous, dulcet, epitome, impudent, insolent, mellifluous and 401 more...
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phrontistery - m
from phrontistery.info
multiloculate, multilocation, multiflorous, multifid, multifarious, multicipital, multeity, multarticulate, multanimous, mulse, mullock, mullion and 898 more...
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Naresh_Special
portent, organically, malicious, sham, olfactory, vertebrates, protuberance, sensilla, flagitious, pleonastic, exiguous, wayward and 102 more...
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501
Classic
aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august, banal, boisterous, dulcet, epitome, impudent, insolent, mellifluous and 401 more...
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501
Classic
irk, teem, blight, pith, moot, mete, ire, bane, bilk, boor, elan, ado and 401 more...
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JURI - courtroom speak
Legal glossary with special focus on courtroom vocabulary
accused, acquittal, ADA, adjournment, adjudication, affidavit, affirmed, aggravated range, aggravating factors, allegation, alleged, answer and 794 more...
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501
Classic
aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august, banal, boisterous, dulcet, epitome, impudent, insolent, mellifluous and 401 more...
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cicatrix
scar tissue
minatory, naira, Cluniac, embracive, prolix, hierophant, timorous, adduce, veracious, dysphoric, sang-froid, vitiate and 503 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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Official Misconduct
Words describing types of misconduct by those in public office.
malversation, embezzlement, peculation, racketeering, jobbery, misappropriation, defalcation, venality, favouritism, favoritism, nepotism, gerrymandering and 44 more...
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Vocab_TC60Q_txtbook
most vocab in the textbook Page till end chapter 2.
forfeited, nullifying, avowed, libelous, sapped, fascistic, outclassed, revolting, ecumenical, looming, fretful, penitent and 86 more...
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gre2
aberrant, aberration, aboveboard, abrasive, abstemious, acme, admonish, affable, affluent, alacrity, allegory, alleviate and 1827 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for malfeasance.
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