misbehave
verb
mis·be·have
ˌmis-bi-ˈhāv 
-bē-
misbehaved; misbehaving
1
a
transitive
: to conduct (oneself) badly or improperly
students who frequently misbehave themselves in class
b
intransitive
: to behave with poor manners or a lack of courtesy
He worried about the decline of family discipline, about the fact that local youth went out walking after dark, wasted time in levity, misbehaved in church.—
Tracy Kidder
Tracy Kidder
c
intransitive
: to behave with disregard for accepted moral standards especially in sexual matters
known for misbehaving with numerous women
d
intransitive
of a member of the armed forces
: to behave before or in the presence of the enemy in a way that does not conform to military standards or practice
… has been charged with desertion and misbehaving before the enemy …—Dan Lamothe
Dan Lamothe2
intransitive
: to behave in an unexpected or unwelcome way
After five floods in four years, people in Liberty County are used to seeing the Trinity River misbehave.—Adam Nossiter
Adam Nossiter
misbehaver
noun
plural misbehavers
misbehavers in the classroom
Examples of misbehave in a Sentence
scolded the children for misbehaving and sent them to bed early
Recent Examples on the Web
The European Union’s AI legislation focuses primarily on how humans use AI models, not on preventing the models themselves from misbehaving.
—Thomas Urbain, Fortune, 29 June 2025
Nationwide data show Black students are four times more likely than their white peers to be suspended from school, despite multiple studies indicating Black children are not more likely to misbehave than white children.
—Rebecca Noel, Charlotte Observer, 18 June 2025
This may seem like a benign application, but the fear was that an LLM might misbehave under certain circumstances – even to the point of committing malicious behavior in violation of direct orders – despite just handling messages.
—David Szondy
june 28, New Atlas, 28 June 2025
These have almost exclusively been in carefully contrived experiments that almost beg the AI to misbehave—for example, by asking it to pursue its goal at all costs.
—Harry Booth, Time, 3 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for misbehave
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Thomas Urbain, Fortune, 29 June 2025
Nationwide data show Black students are four times more likely than their white peers to be suspended from school, despite multiple studies indicating Black children are not more likely to misbehave than white children.
—Rebecca Noel, Charlotte Observer, 18 June 2025
This may seem like a benign application, but the fear was that an LLM might misbehave under certain circumstances – even to the point of committing malicious behavior in violation of direct orders – despite just handling messages.
—David Szondy
june 28, New Atlas, 28 June 2025
These have almost exclusively been in carefully contrived experiments that almost beg the AI to misbehave—for example, by asking it to pursue its goal at all costs.
—Harry Booth, Time, 3 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for misbehave
Cite this Entry
“Misbehave.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/misbehave. Accessed 22 Jul. 2025.
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