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

If a major stablecoin issuer faces a sudden wave of redemptions and their underlying collateral proves illiquid or mismanaged, the resulting de-peg can trigger cascading liquidity crises across the broader financial ecosystem. —Sean Lee, Forbes.com, 15 May 2026

The city sued the Park District last October, alleging the board had mismanaged its funds and violated a 2012 intergovernmental agreement. —Evy Lewis, Chicago Tribune, 13 May 2026

Its relations with India, marked by long-standing border tensions and disputes, illustrate the risks of mismanaging a nuclear neighbor. —Yu Jie, Time, 13 May 2026

When Morey became Philadelphia's president of basketball operations, the team was in a tough spot after years of mismanaging premium assets and handing out undesirable contracts. —Tom Dougherty, CBS News, 12 May 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