maladministration

Name: maladministration, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

/ˌmælədˌmɪnɪˈstɹeɪʃn̩/

//ˌmælədˌmɪnɪˈstɹeɪʃn̩// noun

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed May 6, 2026

The verdict

“maladministration” is uncommon English (frequency #92,838 among 36,575 “M” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#92,838
frequency rank, English: 36,575
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Faulty, improper, or inefficient administration or management, especially by a government body; (countable) an instance of this.

Key facts for maladministration
Property	Value
Headword	maladministration
Language	English
Part of speech	Noun
IPA	/ˌmælədˌmɪnɪˈstɹeɪʃn̩/
Letters	17
Frequency rank	#92,838
Misspellings tracked	0
Confusable pairs	0
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “maladministration” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). maladministration lands here:

#92,838

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

maladministration is uncommon English at frequency #92,838 among 36,575 “M” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌmælədˌmɪnɪˈstɹeɪʃn̩/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

maladministration has no tracked misspelling variants, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: PIE word *h₂éd From mal- (prefix meaning ‘bad; badly’) + administration. The correct English form is maladministration, spelled M-A-L-A-D-M-I-N-I-S-T-R-A-T-I-O-N.

Definition

1
Faulty, improper, or inefficient administration or management, especially by a government body; (countable) an instance of this.
2
An act of incorrectly administering a religious rite; also, a religious group that permits such a practice.

Etymology

PIE word *h₂éd From mal- (prefix meaning ‘bad; badly’) + administration.

This word in other languages

maladministration(Français)Misswirtschaft(Deutsch)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "maladministration"?

"maladministration" is spelled M-A-L-A-D-M-I-N-I-S-T-R-A-T-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌmælədˌmɪnɪˈstɹeɪʃn̩/.

What does "maladministration" mean?

As a noun, "maladministration" means: Faulty, improper, or inefficient administration or management, especially by a government body; (countable) an instance of this.

How do you pronounce "maladministration"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "maladministration" is /ˌmælədˌmɪnɪˈstɹeɪʃn̩/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.

What is the origin of the word "maladministration"?

PIE word *h₂éd From mal- (prefix meaning ‘bad; badly’) + administration. See the full etymology section above for more details.

Is PlainSpell free to use?

Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “maladministration”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

The one correct English spelling is M-A-L-A-D-M-I-N-I-S-T-R-A-T-I-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Say it as /ˌmælədˌmɪnɪˈstɹeɪʃn̩/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.