misapplication
English
Etymology
Etymology tree
From mis- + application.
Noun
misapplication (countable and uncountable, plural misapplications)
- The misuse of something, incorrectly using (applying) something, a wrong application.
- Trying to open a paint can with a chisel is a misapplication of the tool.
- 1984 February 8, Joseph F. Kess, “George Orwell on Language”, in Working Papers of the Linguistics Circle of the University of Victoria, volume 4, number 1, →ISSN, page 3:
- Of course, the more blatant misapplications of words we may term mistakes; when they occur off the mark in the style of Sheridan's Mrs. Malaprop or of the modern Archie Bunker, we may ridicule them as malapropisms.
- 2012 April 19, Josh Halliday, “Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised?”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian[1], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 13 October 2026:
- Julia Farrington, head of arts at Index on Censorship, argues that extra powers to ban violent videos online will "end up too broad and open to misapplication, which would damage freedom of expression".
Categories:
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *meyth₂-
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *mey- (change)
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European word *h₂éd
- English terms prefixed with mis-
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *pel- (fold)
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations