malpractice
noun
Simple meaning
Professional wrongdoing that results in injury or damage.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
malpraktuhsSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
mælpˈɹæktəs
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
Professional wrongdoing that results in injury or damage
“The widow sued his surgeon for malpractice.”
The improper treatment of a patient by a physician that results in injury or loss.
tort law
Improper or unethical conduct by a professional or official person.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
This meaning: Professional wrongdoing that results in injury or damage
Used this way, malpractice is a common word with a clearly unfavourable pull. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“The widow sued his surgeon for malpractice.”
- Emotional tone
- Negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Nearby words
- malfeasance , a specialist term, precise but narrower
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use malpractice
- “The widow sued his surgeon for malpractice.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Insurance purchased by physicians and hospitals to cover the cost of being sued for malpractice.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
- tortnoun
- contingencynoun
- damagesnoun
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: professional wrongdoing that results in injury or damage
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.