misconduct
noun
mis·con·duct
ˌmis-ˈkän-(ˌ)dəkt 
1
: mismanagement especially of governmental or military responsibilities
2
: intentional wrongdoing
specifically
: deliberate violation of a law or standard especially by a government official : malfeasance
3
a
: improper behavior
b
: adultery
4
: a penalty (as in ice hockey) for improper behavior or abusive language (as toward an official)
Examples of misconduct in a Sentence
He was forced to defend himself against charges of sexual misconduct.
There have been reports of misconduct by several employees.
Recent Examples on the Web
The main purpose was to allow prospective employers — other federal agencies or local police — to check their backgrounds for misconduct.
—
Martin Kaste, NPR, 28 Feb. 2025
Between fiscal years 2015 to 2019, agency inspectors general substantiated only 100 allegations of employee time and attendance misconduct or fraud out of a federal workforce of around 2.1 million employees (the GAO report did not include postal workers).
—Laura Doan, CBS News, 27 Feb. 2025
Stadium bans are the more severe form of punishment for misconduct.
—Eduardo Tansley, The Athletic, 26 Feb. 2025
The allegations in the lawsuit filed by Yates’ parents, Dan Yates and Andrea Carrier, are the latest in a series of wrongful-death, misconduct and negligence lawsuits confronting San Diego County and its sheriff.
—Kelly Davis, The Mercury News, 25 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for misconduct
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.
Martin Kaste, NPR, 28 Feb. 2025
Between fiscal years 2015 to 2019, agency inspectors general substantiated only 100 allegations of employee time and attendance misconduct or fraud out of a federal workforce of around 2.1 million employees (the GAO report did not include postal workers).
—Laura Doan, CBS News, 27 Feb. 2025
Stadium bans are the more severe form of punishment for misconduct.
—Eduardo Tansley, The Athletic, 26 Feb. 2025
The allegations in the lawsuit filed by Yates’ parents, Dan Yates and Andrea Carrier, are the latest in a series of wrongful-death, misconduct and negligence lawsuits confronting San Diego County and its sheriff.
—Kelly Davis, The Mercury News, 25 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for misconduct
Cite this Entry
“Misconduct.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/misconduct. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
misconduct
noun
mis·con·duct
(ˈ)mis-ˈkän-(ˌ)dəkt
1
: bad management
2
: improper or unlawful behavior
Legal Definition
misconduct
noun
mis·con·duct
mis-ˈkän-dəkt
: intentional or wanton wrongful but usually not criminal behavior: as
a
: deliberate or wanton violation of standards of conduct by a government official
b
: wrongful behavior (as adultery) by a spouse that leads to the dissolution of the marriage
c
: an attorney's violation of the standards set for professional conduct
also
: an attorney's and especially a prosecutor's use of deceptive or reprehensible methods in presenting a case to a jury
d
: impermissible behavior by a juror (as communicating about the case with outsiders, witnesses, or others, reading or hearing news reports about the case, or independently introducing evidence to other jurors)
e
: an employee's deliberate or wanton disregard of an employer's interests or disregard or violation of the employer's standards or rules that is sufficient to justify a denial of unemployment compensation
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share