malfunction
/ˌmælˈfʌŋk.ʃən/noun, verb
malfunction is spelled M-A-L-F-U-N-C-T-I-O-N: 11 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 1.9 times per million words in written English, the 19,825th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, malfunction means “Faulty functioning” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of malfunction is malfunctions.
How many letters and syllables are in malfunction?
| Letters | 11: M-A-L-F-U-N-C-T-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.9 times per million words; the 19,825th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is malfunction?
Malfunction appears 1.9 times per million words in written English, the 19,825th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce malfunction?
- US /ˌmælˈfʌŋk.ʃən/
Malfunction has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-malfunction.ogg, En-au-malfunction.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of malfunction
- malfunctions plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- malfunctioning participle, present
- malfunctioned participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does malfunction mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Faulty functioning.
- 2
Failure to function.
verb
- 1
To function improperly.
She told him the machine was poorly built, but they both knew that she was the one who had malfunctioned.
- 2
To fail to function.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Malfunction in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | défaut de fonctionnement |
| German | Fehlfunktion, Funktionsstörung , nicht funktionieren |
| Portuguese | mau funcionamento, funcionamento defeituoso , não-funcionamento |
| Spanish | funcionamiento defectuoso, malfuncionamiento, mal funcionamiento, falla, fallo , funcionar / funcar mal / malamente |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does malfunction come from?
From mal- (“bad, incorrect”) + function.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).