misbehavior

[ mis-bi-heyv-yer ]

noun

1. improper, inappropriate, or bad behavior.

Word History and Origins

Origin of misbehavior¹

First recorded in 1480–90; mis- ¹ + behavior

Example Sentences

Sister Agnes chooses to voice her thoughts to the gathered cardinals only as an act of faith, calling out one of the papal candidates with evidence of his misbehavior.

From Los Angeles Times

The moral purity of children will be ensured by Bible lessons taught in public school, supplemented with whatever corporal punishment juvenile misbehavior mandates.

From Salon

It was “a kind of capstone to the misbehavior that Ellsberg was disclosing.”

From Los Angeles Times

Bonta’s office said Teran only knew about those deputies and their alleged misbehavior because of purportedly confidential records she’d been sent three years earlier when she worked at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

From Los Angeles Times

Weyker’s egregious misbehavior has not mattered.

From Slate

Related Words

• immorality
• impropriety
• insubordination
• misconduct
• misdeed
• transgression
• wrongdoing