Skip to main content
maladjustment

maladjustment

1 8.2
A state of not being able to adapt to life that causes problems with feelings or behavior
  • noun
  • /ˌmælədʒˈʌstmənt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : desajuste
  • Attempts to differentially diagnose social maladjustment are thus plagued by a variety of measurement problems.
  • social maladjustment
  • emotional maladjustment

Examples

  • Also, it became clear that my own response had been appropriate and did not represent maladjustment to my condition.

    Academic text (1991)
  • Such problems sometimes lead to social and psychological maladjustment within the family unit.

    Academic text (1990)
  • However, there is no evidence of social maladjustment among children in special classes.

    Academic text (1990)
  • Of course, miss Warren still suffers from a certain social maladjustment.

  • Children of survivors have shown no pattern of maladjustment or psychopathology in most research.

    Academic text (1996)
  • Their work suggested that the combination of rejected status and aggression most strongly predicts later maladjustment in boys.

    Academic text (1999)
  • Spriggs et al. noted that bullying behaviors have strong relationships with social maladjustment and negative health behaviors.

    Academic text (2011)
  • The experience of human alienation is not a treatable symptom of one's maladjustment to one's environment or society.

    Academic text (1997)
  • We have found that some subtypes of children with LD are quite prone to psychosocial maladjustment, whereas others are not.

    Academic text (1992)
  • After moving to a new city, she struggled with maladjustment and often felt out of place.

Synonyms

maladaptation
vsmaladjustment
  • Specialized
1 9.5

A way of behaving that does not fit a situation and causes harm

is a state of failing to adapt and often causing emotional or behavioral problems
unadaptability
vsmaladjustment
8.5

The inability to change or fit into new situations

highlights resulting emotional or behavioral problems from that inability

Antonyms

106 3.3

Getting used to a new situation or condition

64 3.7

Becoming suited to new conditions like a new job or climate

How Adapted

adaptation
64 3.7
adjustment
133 2.9
maladjustment
  • Specialized
1 8.2
maladaptation
  • Specialized
1 9.5

Surface Forms

maladjustment singular

Morphology

maladjustment = adjustment (transparent) = mal + adjust + ment

The word is formed by adding the prefix 'mal-' (bad/poor) to 'adjustment', yielding a straightforward meaning of poor or failed adjustment.

Etymology

Maladjustment comes from mal- meaning 'bad' and adjust meaning 'to fit in or make right'. So, maladjustment is like a 'bad fit' with your environment, which explains why someone cannot adapt and may have emotional or behavior problems.