Word of the Day for Thursday July 14, 2005

malfeasance \mal-FEE-zuhn(t)s\, noun:
Wrongdoing, misconduct, or misbehavior, especially by a public
official.

But more often than not the same board members who were
removed by the chancellor for malfeasance subsequently
manage to get reelected in a political process that defies
any form of accountability.
--Diane Ravitch and Joseph Viteritti, [1]New Schools for a
New Century

Cagney family conjecture was that Grandpop Nelson, with the
temper of a dozen Furies, had likely committed some
malfeasance in his native town forcing him to change his
name when he left.
--John McCabe, [2]Cagney
_________________________________________________________

Malfeasance is derived from Old French malfaisant, present
participle of malfaire, "to do evil," from Latin malefacere,
from male, "badly" + facere, "to do."