verb ·4 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb

1. 1
   To manage, direct, or control a person, group, or system to an unnecessary level of detail or precision. ambitransitive

   "The employees complained that their boss was micromanaging when she insisted that they account for their time in fifteen-minute intervals."

Example

More examples

"Don't micromanage your children."

Etymology

Back-formation from micromanagement, equivalent to micro- + manage.

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