misalignment

noun

mis·​align·​ment ˌmis-ə-ˈlīn-mənt 

plural misalignments

: the condition of being out of correct position or improperly adjusted : bad or incorrect alignment

Over time, because of damage and wear, typewriters develop faults and misalignments that render their typescript unique.

—Laney Salisbury et al.

… overuse injuries are all too often the consequence of poor technique or misalignment of body parts.

—Jane E. Brody

Examples of misalignment in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

These include inter-agent misalignment, error propagation, unpredictability of emergent behavior, and explainability deficits. —Rajeev Ronanki, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025

After ruling out a malfunction in the communications infrastructure on the ground, engineers narrowed the problem down to two possibilities: a misalignment with JUICE's medium-gain antenna or an issue with the comms system's amplifier. —Josh Dinner, Space.com, 26 Aug. 2025

The data also reveals a misalignment in resource allocation. —Sheryl Estrada, Fortune, 18 Aug. 2025

This protective response can be triggered by various factors: poor posture or movement patterns that create misalignment, chronic stress that keeps your body in a heightened state of alert, joint instability that makes your nervous system feel unsafe, or past injuries that never fully healed. —Dana Santas, CNN Money, 12 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1870, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for misalignment

• nonalignment
• realignment
• reassignment
• reconsignment
• alignment
• alinement
• assignment
• confinement
• consignment
• refinement