mismanagement

Etymology

It is formed from English mis- + management,^[2][3][4][5] with mis- meaning "badly, wrongly".^[3] The noun management is formed from manage and -ment.^[3][2] The noun is recorded earlier than the verb mismanage, which the OED dates to 1692 and Etymonline to the 1680s.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Bad or improper management or administration: 1659, in C. Noble's Moderate Answer.^[2] Etymonline dates it to the 1660s,^[3] and the Shorter Oxford to the mid 17th century.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Johnson (1755) defined it as "ill management; ill conduct", with a quotation from Locke on mismanagement rather than lack of ability,^[5] and Webster (1828) gave the example of the mismanagement of public or private affairs.^[7] A short-lived noun mismanage, an instance of mismanagement, is recorded in 1705, in R. Beverley's History of Virginia.^[2] Merriam-Webster now defines the word as corrupt or improper management.^[4]

Timeline

• 1659 – bad or improper management.^[2] Etymonline dates it to the 1660s.^[3]
• 1692 – the verb mismanage, in Locke.^[2]
• 1705 – mismanage as a noun, an instance of mismanagement (obsolete).^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. Bad, careless, incompetent or corrupt management of a business, institution or affairs: Years of mismanagement left the club deep in debt.^[4][2][7]

Related words

• manage
• management
• mismanage
• mis-

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Webster, Noah (1828), An American Dictionary of the English Language, New York: S. Converse