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

• 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

Along with claims that Davenport mismanaged the school's finances, Bauer said the ex-superintendent also lied about the number of students enrolled at Dohn, claiming there were 1,600 students when the real number was only 600. —Quinlan Bentley, The Enquirer, 2 July 2025

Most public restaurant chains today are overly complex, mismanaged, or stuck in a strategic identity crisis. —Jim Osman, Forbes.com, 19 June 2025

Maria-Elena Giner, an appointee of former President Joe Biden who is credited with overhauling the underfunded and mismanaged U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission, has been replaced with a President Donald Trump appointee. —Tammy Murga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Apr. 2025

Some on the council pushed back, questioning whether the city's nearly $65 million in annual funding for the jail was being mismanaged. —Chris Kenning, USA Today, 17 June 2025

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