misapplication

noun

mis·​ap·​pli·​ca·​tion ˌmis-ˌa-plə-ˈkā-shən 

plural misapplications

1

: the act or an instance of applying something incorrectly or improperly

a misapplication of the law

herbicide misapplication

2

: the act or an instance of misusing or spending something (such as public money) without proper authority

… a bank president was convicted of misapplication after he programmed the bank's computer not to debit his personal checking account when it would otherwise have been overdrawn.

—Stanley S. Arkin

Synonyms

• misuse
• abuse

Examples of misapplication in a Sentence

this silly gossiping is a serious misapplication of your time

Recent Examples on the Web

In March, Waldrop was arrested by Parker County Sheriff’s Department deputies on suspicion of theft and misapplication of funds. —Matthew Adams, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 1 Aug. 2025

The charges also included felony misapplication of funds. —Matthew Adams, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 22 July 2025

What Gauguin despised was the misapplication of religion, not religion itself. —Alexandra Schwartz, New Yorker, 11 July 2025

There have been, however, criticisms of the TCPA arising not so much from the text of the statute itself but rather from misapplications of the TCPA by the lower Texas courts. —Jay Adkisson, Forbes.com, 17 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1607, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for misapplication

• abbreviation
• abomination
• acceleration
• accentuation
• accommodation
• accreditation
• acculturation
• accumulation
• acetylation
• adjudication
• administration
• adulteration