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)

misconduct

ˌmis-kən-ˈdəkt 

transitive verb

Synonyms of misconduct

• wrongdoing

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

She was sentenced to nine years in prison in October 2024 on seven charges involving tampering with Mesa County’s election machines, including attempting to influence a public servant, conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation and first-degree official misconduct. —Josh Meyer, USA Today, 10 Nov. 2025

Recent months have been a particularly bruising period for the BBC amid relentless editorial issues relating to the war in Gaza and a major misconduct scandal on MasterChef. —Jake Kanter, Deadline, 9 Nov. 2025

The Indiana Department of Education also didn’t immediately respond to questions about whether Bush had any educator misconduct reports filed against him. —Caroline Beck, IndyStar, 7 Nov. 2025

The scenario remains hypothetical, strongly dependent on both Stefanik winning the governorship and a determination of official misconduct or other grounds for removal pertaining to Mamdani’s actions as mayor. —Anna Skinner, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1705, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

misconduct

noun

mis·​con·​duct (ˈ)mis-ˈkän-(ˌ)dəkt 

1

: bad management

2

: improper or unlawful behavior

misconduct

ˌmis-kən-ˈdəkt 

verb

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