maladjustment

noun

mal·​ad·​just·​ment ˌma-lə-ˈjəs(t)-mənt 

: poor, faulty, or inadequate adjustment

Examples of maladjustment in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Some people have made news for their tremendously bad and rude behavior in public spaces, which signals a kind of sad maladjustment to living with other people. — Tess Taylor, CNN, 3 June 2021

The results showed once again that early academic acceleration did not predict later maladjustment. — Susan Pinker, WSJ, 17 Sep. 2020

Those include a dangerous maladjustment of mechanisms for maintaining international security and stability, regional crises, the creeping threat of terrorism and transnational crime. — Jennie Neufeld, Vox, 16 July 2018

Waller-Bridge is concerned with a particularly feminine kind of maladjustment. — Julia Felsenthal, Vogue, 5 Apr. 2018

But their maladjustment puts students under the immediate threat of gunfire and continues desensitizing them to injustice. — Andre Perry, The Root, 9 May 2017

Word History

First Known Use

1833, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for maladjustment

• readjustment
• adjustment

Kids Definition

maladjustment

noun

mal·​ad·​just·​ment ˌmal-ə-ˈjəs(t)-mənt 

: poor or faulty adjustment

Medical Definition

maladjustment

noun

mal·​ad·​just·​ment ˌmal-ə-ˈjəs(t)-mənt 

: poor, faulty, or inadequate adjustment

especially : failure to reach a satisfactory adjustment between one's desires and the conditions of one's life

emotional maladjustments

symptoms of maladjustment … in early childhood

—Psychological Abstracts

maladjusted

-əd 

adjective

maladjustive

-iv 

adjective