maladjusted
Meaning
Not able to cope with the demands of a normal social environment; poorly or inadequately adjusted.
Structure
Usage
The child was considered maladjusted after changing schools multiple times in a year.
He felt maladjusted to the fast-paced corporate culture.
The program aims to help maladjusted youths reintegrate into society.
Etymology
The word 'maladjusted' is a modern psychological term constructed from classical elements. The core verb 'adjust', with its Latin roots in bringing things close to a correct position, conveys the idea of proper adaptation or regulation. The prefix 'mal-', directly from Latin for 'bad', negates this process, implying a faulty or deficient adaptation. The adjectival suffix '-ed' finalizes the term to describe a person's state. Thus, the literal construction "badly adjusted" evolved from a physical sense of improper alignment to its current abstract meaning describing an individual's inability to fit harmoniously into societal or interpersonal contexts.
Analysis
- mal: From Latin malus (bad, evil). A prefix indicating badness, wrongness, or inadequacy. - adjust: From Old French ajuster, from Vulgar Latin adiuxtare (to put close to), from Latin ad- (to) + iuxta (near). The verb meaning to adapt or regulate. - ed: A suffix forming adjectives from verbs, indicating a state or condition.