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

Sappenfield was permanently banned by the United States Center for SafeSport in May 2024 for physical and emotional misconduct, retaliation, abuse of process, and failure to report a potential SafeSport violation. —Scott M. Reid, Oc Register, 16 Feb. 2026

Sought book on prosecutorial misconduct In the bulk of his conversations, Nathan detailed the misery of jail life. —Grethel Aguila, Miami Herald, 15 Feb. 2026

MacKinnon returned and Wilson was ejected, since fighting is a game misconduct under international rules, but the already popular teammate earned even more respect inside Canada’s locker room. —Stephen Whyno, Chicago Tribune, 15 Feb. 2026

Heraskevych’s attorney, Yevhen Pronin, reacted to the court ruling in step with the IOC, arguing his client did not actually commit misconduct. —Chantz Martin, FOXNews.com, 14 Feb. 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