How do you pronounce malfeasance?

The recorded pronunciation is /ˌmælˈfiːzəns/.

malfeasance

/ˌmælˈfiːzəns/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.60 in modern English

Syllables: mal-fea-sance
IPA: /ˌmælˈfiːzəns/

Scrabble Score

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Syllables

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Wrongdoing.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

Misconduct or wrongdoing, especially by a public official and causing damage.

Countable; Uncountable

Example Sentences

"For starters, back-burnering malfeasance, usually in the form of graft, risks repeating the kind of disastrous mistakes that the United States made in Afghanistan."
"By then, Mr. Altman had gathered more allies. Mr. Nadella, now confident that Mr. Altman was not guilty of malfeasance, threw Microsoft’s weight behind him."

Etymology

From Old French malfaisance, derived from malfaire, maufaire (“to do evil”), from Latin malefaciō (“to do evil”), from male (“evilly”) + faciō (“to do, make”).

Origin

Source language: Old French

Word Breakdown

Root: malfaisance, malefaciō

Usage

Inflected Forms

malfeasances (plural)

Frequently Paired Words

feasance malefactor maleficence maleficent malfeasant misfeasance nonfeasance

Synonyms

misconduct misdoing crime delict delinquency error malfeasance misdeed misdemeanor offense peccadillo sin

Rhymes With

treasons defeasance