dysfunctional
adjective
Paul C. LightTom EwingWarren E. BuffettChris Mooney
Did you know?
Dysfunctional and dysfunction have been used for almost a hundred years, often in medical writing ("brain dysfunction", "a dysfunctional liver") but also by social scientists ("a dysfunctional city council", "diplomatic dysfunction"). But they only really entered the general vocabulary in the 1980s, when therapists and talk-show hosts began talking about dysfunctional families. The signs of family dysfunction turned out to be numerous, and it soon began to seem as if pretty much all our families could be called dysfunctional.
Examples of dysfunctional in a Sentence
Stephen Rodrick, Rolling Stone, 29 May 2025
The risks of a dysfunctional airport are being made clear by Newark.
—Howard Husock, New York Daily News, 28 May 2025
The show follows Malcolm Wilkerson, a gifted teen who struggles to fit in as the middle child in a dysfunctional family.
—Jack Dunn, Variety, 25 May 2025
The family sitcom about the dysfunctional Wilkerson family ran for seven seasons from 2000 to 2006.
—Brian Anthony Hernandez, People.com, 25 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for dysfunctional
Cite this Entry
“Dysfunctional.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dysfunctional. Accessed 10 Jun. 2025.
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