malfeasant

[ mal-fee-zuhnt ]

noun

1. a person who engages in an act that is illegal, legally unjustified, or harmful, especially a public official or person in a position of public trust:

   We will not restore the people’s confidence with bland assurances that the malfeasants are mere outliers who will be punished.

adjective

1. (especially of a public official or person in a position of public trust) engaging in an act that is illegal, legally unjustified, or harmful:

   This government zealously pursues malfeasant civil servants and prosecutes them.

Word History and Origins

Origin of malfeasant¹

First recorded in 1830–40; malfeas(ance) ( def ) + -ant ( def )

Example Sentences

The Republican-controlled board’s newest rule allows county officials to delay certification if poll workers comply imperfectly with their long list of new and old rules—irregularities they can call “malfeasant.”

From Salon

He called on the TEA to expand its investigation and he demanded that members of the school board investigate "themselves for their own malfeasant actions."

From Fox News

The 2010 complaint concerned a colleague, the director of our clinical pathology laboratory and one of our most distinguished African American scientists, who was being subjected to malfeasant actions by the university.

From Washington Post

In this case the malfeasant was film critic David Edelstein, who made a stupid, quickly deleted, misfired “joke” on his private Facebook page, regarding the death of Last Tango in Paris director Bernardo Bertolucci.

From The Guardian

As hobbyists and malfeasants alike turn neighborhood parks into airports, the newly democratized skies are becoming increasingly crowded.

From New York Times