dysfunctional

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Two decades earlier, Lindy, for her part, made a smash, and a packet, with “My Rainbow Starts With Black,” a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, seemingly based on her own dysfunctional family, and its Oscar-winning film adaptation.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2026

Even as United have fallen short of expectations, Fernandes has delivered in what has often been a dysfunctional environment, which has now stabilised under interim boss Michael Carrick.

From BBC • Apr. 2, 2026

He justified this view by citing a dysfunctional banking system, a highly unstable currency, the absence of the rule of law guaranteeing private property, the failure of the centrally planned economy, and "completely dilapidated" infrastructure.

From Barron's • Mar. 21, 2026

I hope Mr. Sasse’s public and courageous reflections on his terminal illness will help to compel the FDA to overhaul its dysfunctional drug approval protocols for rare diseases and more broadly.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026

A crew composed entirely of eight amped-up, overtly aggressive oarsmen will often degenerate into a dysfunctional brawl in a boat or exhaust itself in the first leg of a long race.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown