malfunctioned

verb

past tense of malfunction
as in failed
to fail to function or work properly A software problem is causing the system to malfunction.

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of malfunctioned And though rare, there have also been incidents where a storage tank has malfunctioned and thousands of eggs and embryos have been destroyed. — Lesley Stahl, CBS News, 31 May 2026 Once white culture begins insisting on its presence, something has malfunctioned. — Thomas Chatterton Williams, The Atlantic, 8 June 2026 The algorithm hadn’t malfunctioned. — François Candelon, Fortune, 12 June 2026 Wallen made headlines over the weekend after footage of him shoving over a piano which had malfunctioned during his performance in Denver went viral on social media. — Lori A Bashian, FOXNews.com, 2 June 2026 Eight students were rescued on May 28 after a roller coaster malfunctioned in Galveston, Texas, fire officials said. — James Powel, USA Today, 29 May 2026 On opening day, the ride malfunctioned and left guests suspended for just under 10 minutes, according to the Akron Beacon Journal. — Colson Thayer, PEOPLE, 10 June 2026 On April 20, during the New Glenn rocket’s third launch, the booster’s second stage malfunctioned and failed to deliver a commercial satellite into its intended orbit. — Denise Chow, NBC news, 29 May 2026 The heavy-lift rocket was just cleared to fly by the Federal Aviation Administration last week after a different issue on its third flight, NG-3, in which the upper stage was not able to put its payload into the correct orbit after one of its two engines malfunctioned. — Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 29 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for malfunctioned
  1. failed
  2. crashed
Verb
  • This was the case for Morocco’s opener, where Casemiro had eyes on two players at once while his team-mates failed to cut out the pass ahead of him.
    — Mark Carey, New York Times, 6 July 2026
  • The stutter-step approach by Bruno Guimãraes on the penalty kick failed anyway and the game remained scoreless into the first hydration break.
    — Hannah Keyser, CNN Money, 5 July 2026
Definition of failed
Verb
  • Avila was inside the residence when the vehicle crashed into the home.
    — Michael Sinkewicz, FOXNews.com, 3 July 2026
  • Balogun crashed into Bosnia’s Tarik Muharemović, landing his foot on top of Muharemović’s during the physical match.
    — Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, 2 July 2026
Definition of crashed

Browse Nearby Words

malfunction
malfunctioned
malfunctioning
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Malfunctioned.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/malfunctioned. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on malfunctioned

Nglish: Translation of malfunctioned for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All