misdeed

mis·deed
M3I1S1D2E1E1D2
/mɪsˈdiːd/

noun

That which was done that should not have been, ranging from any sin or moral offense to various degrees of crime.

“The petty misdeeds of his youth came back to haunt him when he ran for political office and his character was smeared.”

RareScrabble 11

Meanings

nounmisdeed (plural misdeeds)

plural misdeeds

  1. That which was done that should not have been, ranging from any sin or moral offense to various degrees of crime.

    The petty misdeeds of his youth came back to haunt him when he ran for political office and his character was smeared.

    1 more example

    These [putting feet on seats and leaving rubbish behind] are officially among the worst habits revealed by staff working on Northern's trains and at stations. Other bugbears include playing music through loudspeakers, not giving way to passengers getting off the train and actually illegal activities such as fare evasion and vaping in enclosed spaces. The list of misdeeds was released by the operator on March 3 to coincide with Employee Appreciation Day.

    2023 March 22, “Stop & Examine”, in RAIL, number 979, page 71

    Synonyms: crime, delict, delinquency, error, malfeasance, misdemeanor, misdoing, offense

Synonyms & antonyms

nounThat which was done that should not have been, ranging from any sin or moral offense to various degrees of crime.

More synonyms by meaning

nounimproper or wicked or immoral behavior

Broader
wrongdoingwrongful conductmisconduct

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Germanic*missadēdiz“misdeed”
  2. Proto-West Germanic*missadādi
  3. Old Englishmisdǣd“misdeed”
  4. Middle Englishmisdede
  5. Englishmisdeed

From Middle English misdede, from Old English misdǣd (“misdeed”), from Proto-West Germanic *missadādi, from Proto-Germanic *missadēdiz (“misdeed”); equivalent to mis- + deed. Cognate with Scots misded (“misdeed”), West Frisian misdied (“misdeed”), Dutch misdaad (“misdeed”), German Missetat (“misdeed”), Swedish missdåd (“misdeed”), Gothic 𐌼𐌹𐍃𐍃𐌰𐌳𐌴𐌸𐍃 (missadēþs, “misdeed”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian злодеяние
  • злодеяние (zlodejanie)something wrong done
Catalan pecat
  • pecatsomething wrong done
Chinese Mandarin 罪行, 犯罪
  • 罪行 (zuìxíng)something wrong done
  • 犯罪 (fànzuì)something wrong done
Danish misgerning, ugerning
  • misgerningsomething wrong done
  • ugerningsomething wrong done
  • udådsomething wrong done
Dutch misdaad, vergrijp
  • misdaadsomething wrong done
  • vergrijpsomething wrong done
  • wandaadsomething wrong done
Finnish tekonen
  • tekonensomething wrong done
French méfait
  • méfaitsomething wrong done
German Missetat
  • Missetatsomething wrong done
Greek παράπτωμα
  • παράπτωμα (paráptoma)something wrong done
Hindi कुकर्म, दुष्कर्म
  • कुकर्म (kukarm)something wrong done
  • दुष्कर्म (duṣkarm)something wrong done
  • दुराचार (durācār)something wrong done
Hungarian gaztett, gonosztett
  • gaztettsomething wrong done
  • gonosztettsomething wrong done
Irish drochghníomh
  • drochghníomhsomething wrong done
Italian misfatto, crimine
  • misfattosomething wrong done
  • criminesomething wrong done
Japanese 悪事, 犯罪
  • 悪事 (akuji)something wrong done
  • 犯罪 (hanzai)something wrong done
Norwegian Bokmål misgjerning
  • misgjerningsomething wrong done
Polish występek
  • występeksomething wrong done
Portuguese malfeitoria
  • malfeitoriasomething wrong done
Romanian nelegiuire, fărădelege
  • nelegiuiresomething wrong done
  • fărădelegesomething wrong done
Russian опло́шность, просту́пок
  • опло́шность (oplóšnostʹ)something wrong done
  • просту́пок (prostúpok)something wrong done
  • правонаруше́ние (pravonarušénije)something wrong done
  • преступле́ние (prestuplénije)something wrong done
Spanish fechoría, malhecho
  • fechoríasomething wrong done
  • malhechosomething wrong done
  • malfecho (disused)something wrong done
Swedish missdåd, missgärning
  • missdådsomething wrong done
  • missgärningsomething wrong done
  • illdådsomething wrong done
  • illgärningsomething wrong done

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with misdeed

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

misdeed. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/misdeed

MLA

“misdeed.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/misdeed. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “misdeed,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/misdeed.

Source: misdeed on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.