dysfunction
/dɪsˈfʌŋk.ʃən/
dysfunction noun: a failure to function in an expected or complete manner. Usually refers to a disorder in a bodily organ (e.g. erectile dysfunction), a mental disorder, or the improper behavior of a social group.
Noun
dysfunction (countable and uncountable, plural dysfunctions)
- A failure to function in an expected or complete manner. Usually refers to a disorder in a bodily organ (e.g. erectile dysfunction), a mental disorder, or the improper behavior of a social group.
- Cerebellar dysfunction is characterized by truncal ataxia, a broad-based stance, dysmetria in which the limbs either overstep (hypermetria) or understep (hypometria), and tremor that is most pronounced when the animal attempts a goal-orientated movement (intention tremor).2004, Johnny D. Hoskins, Geriatrics and Gerontology of the Dog and Cat, →ISBN, page 358
- We next consider the cognification of interpersonal dysfunctions in treating clinical depression.2005, Dwight Evans, Dennis S. Charney, Lydia Lewis, The Physician’s Guide to Depression and Bipolar Disorders, →ISBN, page 69
- Antonyms:
- eufunction, function
Verb
dysfunction (third-person singular simple present dysfunctions, present participle dysfunctioning, simple past and past participle dysfunctioned)
- To fail to function correctly; to malfunction.
dysfunction meaning in Tamil, Malay and Indonesian
dysfunction in Tamil
- கெடுவினை, செயல் பிறழ்ச்சி, தொழிற்கேடு
dysfunction in Malay
- failure to function
- disfungsi
dysfunction in Indonesian
- failure to function
- disfungsi
Examples of dysfunction in a sentence
- It extends beyond socioeconomic class to encompass the full spectrum of biological dysfunction.
- EMH occurs as a compensatory mechanism for bone marrow dysfunction in severe thalassemia.
- However, during systemic inflammation, immunoparalysis may occur resulting in neutrophil dysfunction.
Antonyms of dysfunction
Forms of dysfunction
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | dysfunctions |
| alternative form (nonstandard) | disfunction |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | dysfunctions |
| present participle | dysfunctioning |
| past participle | dysfunctioned |
| past | dysfunctioned |
Origin of dysfunction
From dys- + function.
Words formed from dysfunction
Phrases with dysfunction
Questions about dysfunction
- What does dysfunction mean?
- Dysfunction means a failure to function in an expected or complete manner. Usually refers to a disorder in a bodily organ (e.g. erectile dysfunction), a mental disorder, or the improper behavior of a social group.
- What is dysfunction in Tamil?
- Dysfunction in Tamil is கெடுவினை, செயல் பிறழ்ச்சி, தொழிற்கேடு. See Dysfunction meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is dysfunction?
- Dysfunction can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce dysfunction?
- Dysfunction is pronounced /dɪsˈfʌŋk.ʃən/.
- What is the plural of dysfunction?
- The plural of dysfunction is dysfunctions.
Words near dysfunction in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: dysfunction (page history and authors); dysfunction (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-dysfunction.wav.
Cite this entry: “dysfunction.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/dysfunction. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.