What does misfeasance mean?
Misfeasance is a legal term for wrongdoing that is negligent or unintended but nevertheless causes harm. Its defining feature is the absence of an intention to injure: the act is wrongful because of what it does, rather than because the person deliberately sought the harmful result. The term most often appears in discussions of civil liability, although it can also occur in criminal law and in questions involving contractual or statutory duties. It is conventionally contrasted with malfeasance, which denotes an intentional or inherently unlawful act. A careless security guard who leaves a building unsecured might commit civil misfeasance if a burglary becomes possible, while knowingly disabling a safety system would instead constitute malfeasance. For general readers, misfeasance is a useful term for distinguishing harmful carelessness from deliberate misconduct, although it remains specialized and is more often encountered in legal writing than ordinary conversation.
nounA wrongful or negligent act that causes harm without being intended to do so. In law, it is commonly distinguished from malfeasance, which involves an intentional or inherently unlawful act.
- A wrongful or negligent act that causes harm, especially one committed without an intention to cause that harm.
"The repair shop's negligent inspection was treated as civil misfeasance because it caused damage without any intent to injure the property owner."
"An employee who carelessly leaves a vault open may have committed misfeasance if the negligence causes financial loss."
"The judgment distinguished criminal misfeasance from the more serious crime of malfeasance."
The plural is possible but uncommon; in legal prose, the term is often used without a plural or with a general singular reference.
"The report identified several alleged misfeasances by the contractor during the renovation."
Misfeasance is wrongdoing that does not require an intent to harm: the damage comes from carelessness rather than deliberate wrongdoing.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does misfeasance come from?
Misfeasance entered English through French mesfaisance, literally “wrong doing” or “bad action.” Its components are French mes-, meaning “wrongly,” and faisance, a word meaning “a doing” or “action,” which derives from Latin facere, “to do” or “to make.” English also adopted the related legal term defeasance, while the Latin root survives in words such as feasible.
Related word forms
How misfeasance is actually used
This is chiefly a legal term and is uncommon in general speech. Its classification can depend on the legal system and context, so the term should be used precisely in legal or formal writing.
Easily confused with misfeasance
Misfeasance is a negligent or unintended harmful act, whereas malfeasance is an intentional or inherently unlawful act.