malfunction

English

WOTD – 7 March 2008

Etymology

From mal- (“bad, incorrect”) +‎ function.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, US) IPA^(key): /ˌmælˈfʌŋk.ʃən/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌŋkʃən

Noun

malfunction (plural malfunctions)

1. Faulty functioning.

   Synonyms: dysfunction, misfunction

   • 2023 August 14, Kari Paul, “Robotaxi breakdowns cause mayhem in San Francisco days after expansion vote”, in The Guardian‎, →ISSN:

     This weekend, as videos of robotaxi malfunctions began appearing on social media, opponents say they are seeing their fears realized.

   • 2024 September 19, Alaa Elassar and Graham Hurley, “Titan submersible malfunctioned days prior to the fatal dive, former scientific director testifies”, in CNN‎:

     A former OceanGate scientific director said the Titan submersible suffered a malfunction six days before imploding in June 2023, killing all five people on board.

2. Failure to function.

Derived terms

• malfunction routine
• malfunction junction
• wardrobe malfunction

Translations

faulty functioning

Bulgarian: неизправност (bg) f (neizpravnost) Chinese: Mandarin: 故障 (zh) (gùzhàng) Dutch: slechte werking f Esperanto: malfunkciado Finnish: toimintahäiriö, virhetoiminta French: défaut de fonctionnement m Galician: mal funcionamento m German: Fehlfunktion f, Funktionsstörung (de) f Greek: δυσλειτουργία (el) f (dysleitourgía) Italian: malfunzionamento (it) Japanese: 故障 (ja) (こしょう, koshō) Korean: 고장 (ko) (gojang) Maori: turingongengonge Polish: wadliwe działanie n Portuguese: mau funcionamento m, funcionamento defeituoso m Russian: неиспра́вность (ru) f (neisprávnostʹ), сбой (ru) m (sboj) Spanish: funcionamiento defectuoso m, malfuncionamiento m, mal funcionamiento m, falla (es) f, fallo (es) m, error (es) m Tagalog: salang-kimot, pagsalang-kimot Turkish: arıza (tr) Vietnamese: trục trặc (vi)

failure to function

Bulgarian: повреда (bg) f (povreda) Dutch: stuk zijn n, storing (nl) f Finnish: toimintahäiriö French: défaut de fonctionnement m Galician: avaría (gl) f German: Fehlfunktion f, Funktionsstörung (de) f Greek: δυσλειτουργία (el) f (dysleitourgía) Italian: malfunzionamento (it) Maori: turingongengonge Polish: awaria (pl) f Portuguese: não-funcionamento m Russian: поло́мка (ru) f (polómka)

Verb

malfunction (third-person singular simple present malfunctions, present participle malfunctioning, simple past and past participle malfunctioned)

1. To function improperly.

   She told him the machine was poorly built, but they both knew that she was the one who had malfunctioned.

   • 2022 February 6, Amanda Jackson, “A slot machine in Las Vegas malfunctioned and didn’t tell a tourist he won. The gaming board tracked him down”, in CNN‎:

     Due to a communications error, according to gaming officials, the slot machine malfunctioned and didn’t notify Taylor or casino personnel that he was a winner.

   • 2023 August 14, Kari Paul, “Robotaxi breakdowns cause mayhem in San Francisco days after expansion vote”, in The Guardian‎, →ISSN:

     The group has started collecting reports of malfunctioning, crashing, or dangerous self-driving cars on its website.

   • 2024 October 14, Issy Ronald, “Woman killed by malfunctioning ottoman bed”, in CNN‎:

     A 39-year-old British woman was killed when a malfunctioning ottoman bed fell on her neck and asphyxiated her, a coroner’s report said.

2. To fail to function.

Derived terms

• malfunctional
• malfunctioner

Translations

to function improperly

Dutch: haperen (nl) Finnish: toimia huonosti German: nicht funktionieren Icelandic: bila Polish: wadliwie działać impf Russian: пло́хо рабо́тать impf (plóxo rabótatʹ), барахли́ть (ru) impf (baraxlítʹ) (colloquial) Spanish: funcionar mal, fallar (es), funcar mal Swedish: krångla (sv) Turkish: arızalanmak (tr) Welsh: camweithio ǃXóõ: ǁʻàa

to fail to function

German: nicht funktionieren Korean: 고장이 나다 (gojang'i nada) Polish: nie działać impf Russian: не рабо́тать impf (ne rabótatʹ) Welsh: pallu gweithio ǃXóõ: ǁʻàa