dysfunction
Other forms: dysfunctions
If there's dysfunction, then things aren't working right. High blood pressure is a medical dysfunction, and fighting amongst teammates is a kind of social dysfunction.
If you know that function means to work, then you shouldn't be surprised that dysfunction means something isn't working. Blind people have an optical dysfunction. A family that yells all the time and never listens has a communication dysfunction. If your car breaks down, it has some kind of mechanical dysfunction. But if everything is going smoothly? You're dysfunction-free.
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(medicine) any disturbance in the functioning of an organ or body part or a disturbance in the functioning of a social groupsynonyms: disfunctiontypes:ED, erectile dysfunction, male erecticle dysfunctionimpotence resulting from a man's inability to have or maintain an erection of his penisalaliaparalysis of the vocal cords resulting in an inability to speakdiplegiaparalysis of corresponding parts on both sides of the bodyErb's palsy, Erb-Duchenne paralysisparalysis of the arm resulting from injury to the brachial plexus (usually during childbirth)monoplegiaparalysis of a single limbophthalmoplegiaparalysis of the motor nerves of the eyeparesisa slight or partial paralysisparaplegiaparalysis of the lower half of the body (most often as a result of trauma)quadriplegiaparalysis of both arms and both legstype of:pathologyany deviation from a healthy or normal condition
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a failure to sustain social norms or expected conditions
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Vocabulary lists containing dysfunction
Words derived from more than one language are called "hybrid words." Many hybrid words in English have a combination of Latin and Greek roots, but you'll also find other interesting combinations in the list below.
Stories about the worsening pandemic, the closing days of the Presidential campaign, and big tech under scrutiny all contributed words to this week's list of vocabulary from the week's news.
