dysfunctional

adjective

dys·​func·​tion·​al (ˌ)dis-ˈfəŋ(k)-sh(ə-)nəl 

: characterized by or exhibiting dysfunction: such as

a

: not functioning properly : marked by impaired or abnormal functioning

With 180,000 employees and a $43 billion budget, the department is a collage of 22 distinct government agencies drawn from different corners of the federal organization chart and glued together into a single, largely dysfunctional unit.

—Paul C. Light

This form of anemia develops because the bone marrow is not producing new cells rapidly enough to replace old cells that have become destroyed or otherwise dysfunctional.

—Tom Ewing

This led to a dysfunctional credit market that in important respects soon turned non-functional.

—Warren E. Buffett

b

: characterized by abnormal or unhealthy interpersonal behavior or interaction

dysfunctional relationships

As with any dysfunctional family, it may take an outsider to get a clear picture of the situation.

—Chris Mooney

Did you know?

Dysfunctional and dysfunction have been used for almost a hundred years, often in medical writing ("brain dysfunction", "a dysfunctional liver") but also by social scientists ("a dysfunctional city council", "diplomatic dysfunction"). But they only really entered the general vocabulary in the 1980s, when therapists and talk-show hosts began talking about dysfunctional families. The signs of family dysfunction turned out to be numerous, and it soon began to seem as if pretty much all our families could be called dysfunctional.

Examples of dysfunctional in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Slow Horses stars Oldman as Lamb, a brilliant but cantankerous leader of dysfunctional spies who have made career-ending mistakes and end up at a dumping ground MI5 unit known as Slough House. — Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 18 Aug. 2026

The drug activates the orexin pathway that is dysfunctional in people with the condition, restoring the brain’s ability to remain alert during the day, and is approved for people with narcolepsy type 1. — Alice Park, Time, 18 Aug. 2026

All these problems are aggravated by the dysfunctional codependence of procurement officials and traditional defense contractors. — Doug Beck, Foreign Affairs, 18 Aug. 2026

In their place are flawed geniuses and idiosyncratic personalities thrust together in the dregs of intelligence services, operating like a dysfunctional family under its disreputable patriarch. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 17 Aug. 2026

Word History

Etymology

dysfunction + -al entry 1, after functional

First Known Use

1915, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for dysfunctional

• bifunctional
• nonfunctional
• functional
• junctional