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Glite Dictionary
⚠️ To set wrongly 😕 To not adapt
to maladjust

to maladjust

8.6
To fail to fit into a new place or situation
  • verb
  • /ˌmæl.əˈdʒʌst/
translation icon : no adaptarse
  • These criteria effectively eliminate the need for inclusionary (e.g., "the term includes children who are schizophrenic") or exclusionary (e.g., "the term does not include children who are socially maladjusted") language.

Examples

  • After moving to a new city, he felt maladjust and struggled to find his place.

  • I'm telling you, as far as people go, all adjusting is maladjusting, or else forget it.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • Students who are maladjust often have difficulty making friends in school.

  • She realized that her maladjust behavior was affecting her job performance.

Antonyms

to adapt
150 3.0

To change your behaviour or ideas to deal with new situations

How Adapted

to adapt
178 3.2
to adjust
317 2.7
to maladjust
8.6

Surface Forms

maladjust infinitive
maladjusted past
maladjusted past participle
maladjusting present participle
maladjusts third person singular

Morphology

maladjust = adjust (transparent) = mal + adjust

The combination 'mal-' + 'adjust' yields the meaning 'to be poorly adjusted' or 'to fail to adapt', which is inferable from the parts.

Etymology

The word maladjust also uses mal- 'bad' and adjust 'to fit in' or 'to adapt'. So to maladjust as a person is to fail to fit into a place or situation, like someone who cannot adapt to a new school or job.