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

The agency said that prior owners of the property conducted pesticide research and, according to the state and county’s own filing, mismanaged hazardous materials at the property for decades. — Ethan Baron, Mercury News, 16 Aug. 2026

Former Cleveland County Sheriff Chris Amason, who oversaw Cleveland County jail operations for several years, also was accused in a state audit of overspending his budget and mismanaging the agency. — Jessie Christopher Smith, Oklahoman, 13 Aug. 2026

Minnesota’s two-term governor, Tim Walz, decided in January to drop out of the race for reëlection, amid criticisms that the state had mismanaged investigations into its welfare programs. — The New Yorker, New Yorker, 11 Aug. 2026

Republicans have accused Beshear of mismanaging the state’s Medicaid program. — Alex Acquisto, ProPublica, 30 July 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