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

• 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

But arrests of city police officers in this alleged scam — and possibly other cops involved in similar misconduct — are expected in the coming months, according to sources familiar with the investigation. —Adrian Ruhi, Miami Herald, 6 Oct. 2025

Ottawa’s best players were out of sync, took too many penalties and were literally left battered and bloody after fights and misconduct penalties. —Julian McKenzie, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2025

Previous stars include Curtiss Cook, who left after season 6, Ntare Mwine, who left after season 3, and original series star Jason Mitchell, who was dropped from The Chi in 2019 amid misconduct allegations. —Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 1 Oct. 2025

One of the top leaders within the Mesa Police Department is facing a misconduct investigation. —Elena Santa Cruz, AZCentral.com, 30 Sep. 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