mismanage

verb

mis·​man·​age ˌmis-ˈma-nij 

mismanaged; mismanaging

transitive verb

: to manage (something) wrongly or poorly

mismanage a business

… started thinking that maybe employees are sometimes mismanaged because they let themselves be mismanaged. They don't fight back.

—A. J. Anderson

… even those professional Pollyannas who publicly find reason to praise the current municipal administration shake their heads in private and wonder how long we can go on deliberately mismanaging our affairs.

—Brendan Gill

mismanagement

ˌmis-ˈma-nij-mənt 

noun

plural mismanagements

financial mismanagement of the company

Synonyms of mismanage

• misconduct
• damage
• violate
• mishandle
• misgovern
• abuse

Examples of mismanage in a Sentence

the business was mismanaged so seriously that it eventually had to declare bankruptcy

Recent Examples on the Web

Last week, the Florida Supreme Court denied appeals filed by King, whose attorneys argued that corrections officials had mismanaged the state's death penalty protocols and that he was denied due process by not having access to certain records. —Cbs Miami Team, CBS News, 17 Mar. 2026

Despite the creation of the new task force, the authority to investigate and penalize mismanaged boards remains with the state, and if issues rise to criminal activity, Hialeah Police may become involved. —Verónica Egui Brito, Miami Herald, 12 Mar. 2026

Young is adamant about clearing up accusations that her team mismanaged or overworked her. —Julyssa Lopez, Rolling Stone, 11 Mar. 2026

Dublin High varsity baseball coach Greg Oravetz said the district has mismanaged those funds, leading to the elimination of competitive wage increases and higher health-care costs. —Rick Hurd, Mercury News, 9 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1651, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for mismanage

• manage
• tannage

Kids Definition

mismanage

verb

mis·​man·​age

(ˈ)mis-ˈman-ij

: to manage badly or improperly

mismanagement

-mənt

noun