malpractice
noun
malpractice is spelled M-A-L-P-R-A-C-T-I-C-E: 11 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 1.8 times per million words in written English, the 20,906th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, malpractice means “The improper treatment of a patient by a physician that results in injury or loss” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of malpractice is malpractices.
How many letters and syllables are in malpractice?
| Letters | 11: M-A-L-P-R-A-C-T-I-C-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.8 times per million words; the 20,906th 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 malpractice?
Malpractice appears 1.8 times per million words in written English, the 20,906th 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 malpractice?
Malpractice 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-malpractice.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of malpractice
- malpractices plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does malpractice mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The improper treatment of a patient by a physician that results in injury or loss.
- 2
Improper or unethical conduct by a professional or official person.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Malpractice in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | négligence médicale , méconduite |
| German | Kunstfehler, Behandlungsfehler , Amtsmissbrauch |
| Portuguese | negligência |
| Spanish | mala praxis |
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 malpractice come from?
From mal- + practice.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).