misallocate

verb

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mis·al·lo·cate | \ ˌmis-ˈa-lə-ˌkāt

misallocated; misallocating

Definition of misallocate

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

Examples of misallocate in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Industrial policy of this sort would misallocate capital in a way that would slow the economy’s transition to a post-virus new normal. — Glenn Hubbard, WSJ, 8 Dec. 2020 Without collaboration, companies may fail to fully consider partner capabilities and incentives in investments and so may misallocate resources. — Daniel Pellathy And Ted Stank, WSJ, 9 July 2020 This will drastically misallocate necessary funding for services such as public health and education, harming those most vulnerable. — Adam Eichen, The New Republic, 27 June 2019 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, 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, 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.