MISCONDUCT

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does misconduct mean? 

• MISCONDUCT (noun)
  The noun MISCONDUCT has 2 senses:

1. bad or dishonest management by persons supposed to act on another's behalf

2. activity that transgresses moral or civil law

  Familiarity information: MISCONDUCT used as a noun is rare.

• MISCONDUCT (verb)
  The verb MISCONDUCT has 2 senses:

1. behave badly

2. manage badly or incompetently

  Familiarity information: MISCONDUCT used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MISCONDUCT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Bad or dishonest management by persons supposed to act on another's behalf

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("misconduct" is a kind of...):

direction; management (the act of managing something)

Derivation:

misconduct (manage badly or incompetently)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Activity that transgresses moral or civil law

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

actus reus; misconduct; wrongdoing; wrongful conduct

Context example:

he denied any wrongdoing

Hypernyms ("misconduct" is a kind of...):

activity (any specific behavior)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "misconduct"):

encroachment; intrusion; trespass; usurpation; violation (entry to another's property without right or permission)

infringement; violation (an act that disregards an agreement or a right)

criminal maintenance; maintenance (the unauthorized interference in a legal action by a person having no interest in it (as by helping one party with money or otherwise to continue the action) so as to obstruct justice or promote unnecessary litigation or unsettle the peace of the community)

champerty (an unethical agreement between an attorney and client that the attorney would sue and pay the costs of the client's suit in return for a portion of the damages awarded)

falsification; misrepresentation (a willful perversion of facts)

dishonesty; knavery (lack of honesty; acts of lying or cheating or stealing)

evildoing; transgression (the act of transgressing; the violation of a law or a duty or moral principle)

infliction (an act causing pain or damage)

iniquity; injustice; shabbiness; unfairness (an unjust act)

injury (an act that causes someone or something to receive physical damage)

injury (wrongdoing that violates another's rights and is unjustly inflicted)

perversion (the action of perverting something (turning it to a wrong use))

malpractice (professional wrongdoing that results in injury or damage)

malpractice (a wrongful act that the actor had no right to do; improper professional conduct)

misfeasance (doing a proper act in a wrongful or injurious manner)

malfeasance (wrongful conduct by a public official)

dereliction (willful negligence)

misbehavior; misbehaviour; misdeed (improper or wicked or immoral behavior)

malversation (misconduct in public office)

civil wrong; tort ((law) any wrongdoing for which an action for damages may be brought)

brutalisation; brutalization (the activity of treating someone savagely or viciously)

Derivation:

misconduct (behave badly)

• MISCONDUCT (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they misconduct ... he / she / it misconducts   
Past simple: misconducted   
Past participle: misconducted   
-ing form: misconducting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Behave badly

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

misbehave; misconduct; misdemean

Context example:

The children misbehaved all morning

Hypernyms (to "misconduct" is one way to...):

act; move (perform an action, or work out or perform (an action))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "misconduct"):

fall from grace (revert back to bad behavior after a period of good behavior)

act up; carry on (misbehave badly; act in a silly or improper way)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

misconduct (activity that transgresses moral or civil law)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Manage badly or incompetently

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

misconduct; mishandle; mismanage

Context example:

The funds were mismanaged

Hypernyms (to "misconduct" is one way to...):

care; deal; handle; manage (be in charge of, act on, or dispose of)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

misconduct (bad or dishonest management by persons supposed to act on another's behalf)

 Context examples 

That his repentance of misconduct, which thus brought its own punishment, was sincere, need not be doubted;—nor that he long thought of Colonel Brandon with envy, and of Marianne with regret.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

Your father and mother seem so totally free from all those ambitious feelings which have led to so much misconduct and misery, both in young and old.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

Maria and Julia, and especially Maria, were so closely implicated in Mr. Crawford's misconduct, that she could not give his character, such as she believed it, without betraying them.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

She was disturbed by no fear for her felicity, nor humbled by any remembrance of her misconduct.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Far from comprehending him or his sister in their father's misconduct, Mrs. Morland had been always kindly disposed towards each, and instantly, pleased by his appearance, received him with the simple professions of unaffected benevolence; thanking him for such an attention to her daughter, assuring him that the friends of her children were always welcome there, and entreating him to say not another word of the past.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

'The consequence,' said she, 'has been a state of perpetual suffering to me; and so it ought. But after all the punishment that misconduct can bring, it is still not less misconduct. Pain is no expiation. I never can be blameless. I have been acting contrary to all my sense of right; and the fortunate turn that every thing has taken, and the kindness I am now receiving, is what my conscience tells me ought not to be.' 'Do not imagine, madam,' she continued, 'that I was taught wrong. Do not let any reflection fall on the principles or the care of the friends who brought me up. The error has been all my own; and I do assure you that, with all the excuse that present circumstances may appear to give, I shall yet dread making the story known to Colonel Campbell.'

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

They proceed from no misconduct, and can bring no disgrace.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

His pride, in that direction, may be of service, if not to himself, to many others, for it must only deter him from such foul misconduct as I have suffered by.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Indeed, Miss Woodhouse, (speaking more collectedly,) with the consciousness which I have of misconduct, very great misconduct, it is particularly consoling to me to know that those of my friends, whose good opinion is most worth preserving, are not disgusted to such a degree as to—I have not time for half that I could wish to say.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

To be disgraced in the eye of the world, to wear the appearance of infamy while her heart is all purity, her actions all innocence, and the misconduct of another the true source of her debasement, is one of those circumstances which peculiarly belong to the heroine's life, and her fortitude under it what particularly dignifies her character.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)