Malpractice

/mælˈpræktəs/

/mælˈpræktɪs/

IPA guide

Other forms: malpractices

If you needed your tonsils removed but your surgeon accidentally took out your appendix instead, you could sue her for malpractice, or mistreatment by a doctor that results in harm to the patient.

There are many kinds of malpractice, but medical and legal — by a doctor or lawyer — are the most common. Any professional who injures a client or patient through negligence risks being accused of malpractice, and possibly taken to court. The prefix mal means "bad," from the Latin word malus, or "evil." Practice comes from the Modern Latin practicare, "to practice." If a doctor practices medicine badly enough that it hurts someone, that's malpractice.

Definitions of malpractice

noun
professional wrongdoing that results in injury or damage

“the widow sued his surgeon for malpractice”

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type of:
actus reus, misconduct, wrongdoing, wrongful conduct
activity that transgresses moral or civil law
noun
a wrongful act that the actor had no right to do; improper professional conduct

“he charged them with electoral malpractices”

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type of:
actus reus, misconduct, wrongdoing, wrongful conduct
activity that transgresses moral or civil law

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