Misplan

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To arrange or devise a course of action poorly, so that the result is faulty or fails to achieve its goal
2. To make a scheme or outline that is ill-judged, leading to an unsuccessful or unintended outcome
3. Planning something carelessly or mistakenly, with the effect that it goes wrong or falls short of what was intended

Etymology: "Misplan" is a plain formation: the prefix "mis-", meaning wrongly or badly, attached to "plan." The verb therefore means to plan badly or wrongly, to make a plan that goes astray. The pattern is an old and productive one in English, applied to many verbs such as "misjudge," "misread" and "mislead," so the word is best understood as a transparent compound rather than a term with a dramatic origin. Its meaning follows directly from its parts. "Plan" itself came into English through French from Latin "planus," meaning flat, and the sense of a drawn diagram or scheme developed from that idea of a flat surface on which something is laid out. Adding "mis-" simply reverses the success of that scheme, so that the planner's outline is faulty from the start.

Synonyms: mismanage, bungle, misjudge

Antonyms: plan, organize