maladministration
Definition
- Noun:
- Inefficient or dishonest management: "maladministration" refers to the act of managing or administering something (such as a government department, company, or organization) in a way that is incompetent, corrupt, or neglectful.
Usage Examples
- (The council's management was inefficient or dishonest.)
- (The administration was poorly handled.)
- (The funds were mismanaged or misused.)
Advanced Usage
"maladministration of justice": a formal phrase used in legal contexts to describe a failure or corruption in the judicial system.
- The appeal was based on claims of maladministration of justice by the lower court. (The court's handling of the case was flawed.)
"systemic maladministration": refers to widespread, ingrained problems in an organization's management.
- The investigation uncovered systemic maladministration across multiple government agencies. (The mismanagement was not isolated but part of a larger pattern.)
Variants and Related Words
Maladminister (verb): to manage or administer poorly or dishonestly.
- The director was accused of maladministering the charity's funds. (He managed the funds badly or illegally.)
Maladministrator (noun): a person who engages in maladministration.
- The report named several maladministrators in the department. (Those responsible for the poor management.)
Synonyms
- Mismanagement: the act of managing something badly.
- Incompetence: lack of skill or ability to do a job effectively.
- Corruption: dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power.
Related Idioms
"a mess of one's own making": a difficult situation caused by one's own poor management.
- The budget crisis was a mess of the government's own making, a clear case of maladministration. (The crisis resulted from their own mismanagement.)
"to make a hash of something": to do something very badly.
- The new manager made a hash of the project, a textbook example of maladministration. (He managed the project extremely poorly.)