mispromotion

M3I1S1P3R1O1M3O1T1I1O1N1

noun

The act of mispromoting; the advertisement of something as having properties it does not have.

Scrabble 18

Meanings

nounmispromotion (countable and uncountable, plural mispromotions)

plural mispromotions

  1. countableuncountableThe act of mispromoting; the advertisement of something as having properties it does not have.

    Mr. Speaker, the legal theory of Brown against Topeka rejecting a denial of freedom of choice because of race has suffered mispromotion to the point that today “freedom of choice" is again illegal.

    1969 March 3, John R. Rarick, Congressional Record, page 4998
    2 more examples

    The rapid decrease in fat trim of retail beef cuts in the U.S. from 1986 (13mm) to 1988 (< 3mm) (Cross et al 1988 ) is surely an indication that institutionalised "imposition" of an historic quality grading system can result in a mispromotion of product with costs of heroic proportions.

    1995, Proceedings: Linking science and technology to societal benefits, page 205

    “There is a strong incentive for employees to report mispromotion or other acts that might be regarded as a false claim – whistleblowers get 15 to 30 percent of what the government collects,” he points out.

    2006 October 17, O Avitzur, T Valeo, “What Physicians Can Say About Off-Label Therapies—Lawsuits Could Set New Precedents”, in Neurology Today
  2. countableuncountableThe act of promoting someone to a position for which they are not qualified.

    This mispromotion phenomenon has become popularly known as the Peter Principle (12).

    1978, Thomas J. Atchison, Winston W. Hill, Management Today: Managing Work in Organizations, page 146
    2 more examples

    For, still today, I continue to be amazed at how many senior executives fail fully to realize the potentially ruinous cost of a mis-hire or mispromotion.

    1991, John Wareham, The Anatomy of a Great Executive, page 5

    Every manager sitting with HR to analyze the costs of every mishire, by reviewing the total hiring file on the mis-hire or mispromotion, sees that cutting corners on Topgrading methods is foolish because it is so costly.

    2012, Bradford D. Smart, Topgrading
  3. countableuncountableA person who has been mispromoted.

    The other three-fourths (the B- and C-Players) become mishires and mispromotions.

    2009, Chris Lauer, The Management Gurus

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*mey-?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*meyth₂-
  3. Proto-Germanic*missaz
  4. Proto-Germanic*missa-
  5. Proto-West Germanic*missa-
  6. Old Englishmis-
  7. Middle Englishmys-
  8. Englishmis-
  9. Proto-Indo-European*per-der.?
  10. Proto-Indo-European*pér
  11. Proto-Indo-European*pró
  12. Proto-Indo-European*pro-
  13. Proto-Italic*pro-
  14. Latinprō-
  15. Proto-Indo-European*m(y)ewh₁-
  16. Proto-Indo-European*m(y)owh₁éyeti
  17. Proto-Italic*moweō
  18. Latinmoveō
  19. Latinprōmoveō
  20. Late Latinprōmotiō
  21. Old Frenchpromocion
  22. Englishpromotion
  23. Englishmispromotion

From mis- + promotion.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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