misapplication

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun wrong use or application
noun the fraudulent appropriation of funds or property entrusted to your care but actually owned by someone else

From mis- + application.

What a misapplication of words! — Madeline Payne, the Detective's Daughter, Lawrence L. Lynch
Hence the usual misapplication of the sinking fund. — An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith
Strange that their very elevation was a misapplication, that to raise seemed to falsify. — Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman, Thomas Hardy

Type a word, a sentence, a book title, or a link to an English article. WordNet and the Classics answer.

Try

A library of classics · a vault of words · instant etymology & meaning