Dictionary

misconsume en · VERB

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *mey-? Proto-Indo-European *meyth₂-der. Proto-Germanic *missaz Proto-Germanic *missa- Proto-West Germanic *missa- Old English mis- Middle English mys- English mis- Proto-Indo-European *ḱe? Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Italic *kom Proto-Italic *kom- Latin con- Proto-Indo-European *upó Proto-Italic *supo Latin sub Latin sub- Proto-Indo-European *h₁em- Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *h₁émeti Proto-Italic *emō Latin emō Latin sūmō Latin cōnsūmōder. Old French consumerbor. Middle English consumen English consume English misconsume From mis- + consume.

Meanings

1. To consume in an incorrect manner; to consume the wrong amount, the wrong things, or at the wrong place or time.
   • Physiologically, humans misconsume when they eat too much in a sitting or over a lifetime or when they become addicted to a drug. The long-term burden overwhelms the immediate gratification. Psychologically, humans misconsume when, for example, they fall into the advertiser's trap of "perpetual dissatisfaction." 2002, Thomas Princen, Michael Maniates, Ken Conca, Confronting Consumption, page 33:
   • On the other hand, an individual or a juridical person who treads the right economic path, who does not misconsume by spending on it beyond the median consumption of the members of the Social Organism, and who does not misinvest, will be liable to pay no tax at all. 1999, Gautam Mathur, B. Satyanarayan, Essays in Political Economy, page 75:
   • Lovelock, for example, suggests the term “jaycustomers" to label customers who “misconsume” in a manner similar to jaywalkers who cross streets in unauthorized places. 1996, Christopher H. Lovelock, Services marketing, page 115:

Forms