misallocate

verb mis·al·lo·cate \ ˌmis-ˈa-lə-ˌkāt \

Definition of misallocate

misallocated; misallocating

transitive verb

: to allocate (something, such as money or resources) poorly or improperly

allegedly misallocated company funds

Top managers misallocate resources, overpay themselves, and ignore other, possibly better ways of motivating employees—all because giving out options is "free."
—Justin Fox

Recent Examples of misallocate from the Web

LaMore, who was executive director of the organization, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah A.L. Merriam to conspiring to misallocate federal funds to pay his salary and to inflating invoices to obtain additional cash for himself.

— david owens, courant.com, "Former Head Of Enfield Development Agency Pleads Guilty, IDs Co-Conspirator," 16 Mar. 2018
This is not a place that can afford to misallocate hundreds of millions of dollars in educational funds.

— eric levitz, Daily Intelligencer, "There Is No ‘Epidemic of Mass School Shootings’," 1 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'misallocate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.