Misdesigned

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Poorly planned or wrongly conceived in its structure, layout or function so that it fails to work as intended
2. Created with faulty planning, so that the form or features of the thing do not serve their purpose well
3. Laid out or shaped in a flawed way, leaving it unsuitable for the job it was meant to perform

Etymology: "Misdesigned" is the past tense and past participle of "misdesign," which is built from the prefix "mis-" (meaning wrongly or badly) attached to "design." So a misdesigned object is one that was planned or shaped with faulty intentions or execution, such as a kettle whose handle gets hot or a door that opens the wrong way. The base word "design" comes from the Italian "disegno," meaning drawing or plan, which in turn traces back to Latin "designare," to mark out or designate. The prefix "mis-" is an old English element, used in words such as "misunderstand" and "mislead," that signals error or wrongness. Pairing it with "design" produces a verb meaning to design badly, and its past forms follow the regular pattern of English verbs.

Synonyms: ill-designed, poorly designed

Antonyms: well-designed