What does "malpractice" mean?

The improper treatment of a patient by a physician that results in injury or loss.

Malpractice

Common synonyms include: abuse, abuse of office, bad policy, befoulment, conversion, corrupt administration.

noun

noun ·3 syllables ·Uncommon ·College level

Noun

1
The improper treatment of a patient by a physician that results in injury or loss. countable, uncountable
2
a wrongful act that the actor had no right to do; improper professional conduct wordnet
3
Improper or unethical conduct by a professional or official person. countable, uncountable
"When such a breakdown occurs there must be a full examination of the corruption that has been committed, and the leaders involved in malpractices must be encouraged to give a full account of what took place."
4
professional wrongdoing that results in injury or damage wordnet

"Malpractice insurance is a contributing factor to the high cost of medical care."

From mal- + practice.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.