misconduct

noun

mis·​con·​duct ˌmis-ˈkän-(ˌ)dəkt 

1

: mismanagement especially of governmental or military responsibilities

2

: intentional wrongdoing

specifically : deliberate violation of a law or standard especially by a government official : malfeasance

3

a

: improper behavior

b

: adultery

4

: a penalty (as in ice hockey) for improper behavior or abusive language (as toward an official)

misconduct

ˌmis-kən-ˈdəkt 

transitive verb

Synonyms of misconduct

• wrongdoing

Examples of misconduct in a Sentence

He was forced to defend himself against charges of sexual misconduct.

There have been reports of misconduct by several employees.

Recent Examples on the Web

The costs of decades of misconduct by Chicago police have grown enormous as the city settles lawsuit after lawsuit using expensive private counsel to handle most of the work. —Chicago Tribune, 30 Mar. 2026

And of course, Andrew being stripped of his titles and evicted from Royal Lodge, only to then be arrested for suspicion of misconduct in public office. —Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 30 Mar. 2026

Four Baltimore City police officers have been indicted on charges of assault, misconduct, and false reports, Baltimore State's Attorney Ivan Bates announced on Monday. —Adam Thompson, CBS News, 30 Mar. 2026

SafeSport, which Congress created following the exposure of Larry Nassar's abuse, for the most part does not investigate emotional and physical misconduct allegations. —Julia Haney, NPR, 28 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1705, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

misconduct

noun

mis·​con·​duct (ˈ)mis-ˈkän-(ˌ)dəkt 

1

: bad management

2

: improper or unlawful behavior

misconduct

ˌmis-kən-ˈdəkt 

verb

Legal Definition

misconduct

noun

mis·​con·​duct mis-ˈkän-dəkt 

: intentional or wanton wrongful but usually not criminal behavior: as

a

: deliberate or wanton violation of standards of conduct by a government official

b

: wrongful behavior (as adultery) by a spouse that leads to the dissolution of the marriage

c

: an attorney's violation of the standards set for professional conduct

also : an attorney's and especially a prosecutor's use of deceptive or reprehensible methods in presenting a case to a jury

d

: impermissible behavior by a juror (as communicating about the case with outsiders, witnesses, or others, reading or hearing news reports about the case, or independently introducing evidence to other jurors)

e

: an employee's deliberate or wanton disregard of an employer's interests or disregard or violation of the employer's standards or rules that is sufficient to justify a denial of unemployment compensation