misapplication

noun

mis·​ap·​pli·​ca·​tion ˌmis-ˌa-plə-ˈkā-shən 

plural misapplications

1

: the act or an instance of applying something incorrectly or improperly

a misapplication of the law

herbicide misapplication

2

: the act or an instance of misusing or spending something (such as public money) without proper authority

… a bank president was convicted of misapplication after he programmed the bank's computer not to debit his personal checking account when it would otherwise have been overdrawn.

—Stanley S. Arkin

Synonyms

• abuse
• misemployment
• misusage
• misuse
• misutilization
• perversion

Examples of misapplication in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The most common causes of wrongful convictions are eyewitness misidentification, misapplication of forensic science, false confessions, coerced pleas, and official misconduct, generally by police or prosecutors, according to the Innocence Project, a national organization based in New York. —Sean Murphy, The Christian Science Monitor, 12 Oct. 2023

The most common causes of wrongful convictions are eyewitness misidentification, misapplication of forensic science, false confessions, coerced pleas and official misconduct, generally by police or prosecutors, according to the Innocence Project, a national organization based in New York. —CBS News, 12 Oct. 2023

As with any massive change, there are bound to be misapplications of technology resulting in some unintended consequences. —IEEE Spectrum, 8 Mar. 2018

Adriana Castorena-Narvaez pleaded guilty Thursday of felony misapplication of fiduciary property in exchange for five years of felony probation and restitution to the Houston Independent School District (HISD) in the amount of $37,521.64, FOX Houston reported. —Louis Casiano, Fox News, 11 Aug. 2023

Three articles accuse Paxton of disregard of duty and misapplication of public resources related to his treatment of the whistleblowers. —Philip Jankowski, Dallas News, 31 Aug. 2023

Laffitte was convicted of conspiring to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud and three counts of misapplication of bank funds in November 2022. —Adam Sabes, Fox News, 1 Aug. 2023

Of those, 192 were erroneous due to the waiver misapplication, and just 37 were true overpayments or underpayments, Carson said. —Annie Berman, Anchorage Daily News, 14 July 2023

Grissom said the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement wants to look into whether the issues in Uvalde were because of problematic training or a misapplication of training. —Emily Donaldson, Anchorage Daily News, 21 July 2022

Word History

First Known Use

1607, in the meaning defined at sense 1