(psychology) Of behavior, showing inadequate or counterproductive mental and behavioral adaptation to a new situation.
Used in a Sentence
maladaptive
Definitions, parts of speech, synonyms, and sentence examples for maladaptive.
Editorial note
Eating every couple hours is historically impossible, and just on that basis one can reason it's likely maladaptive.
Examples16
Definitions2
Parts of speech1
Quick take
(psychology) Of behavior, showing inadequate or counterproductive mental and behavioral adaptation to a new situation.
Meaning at a glance
The clearest senses and uses of maladaptive gathered in one view.
(evolutionary theory) Of anatomy, physiology, or behavior, showing inadequate or counterproductive evolutionary adaptation to an environment or its changes.
Definitions
Core meanings and parts of speech for maladaptive.
adjective
(psychology) Of behavior, showing inadequate or counterproductive mental and behavioral adaptation to a new situation.
See also: dysfunctional, maladjustive, nonadaptive
adjective
(evolutionary theory) Of anatomy, physiology, or behavior, showing inadequate or counterproductive evolutionary adaptation to an environment or its changes.
See also: dysfunctional, maladjustive, nonadaptive
Example sentences
Eating every couple hours is historically impossible, and just on that basis one can reason it's likely maladaptive.
Because there is a self-aware, behavioral component to not just dissociative events, but to most maladaptive psychiatric disorders.
Good rules don't diminish the players efforts, they channel them away from maladaptive avenues into productive ones.
There are many solutions to a problem, but some have maladaptive implications in a broader context not considered by myopic vision.
Adaptations to large size of dinosaurs were, for the period of that firestorm, exceptionally maladaptive.
To put a long story short, an eating disorder very mildly describes the kind of maladaptive clash I experienced between my physical form and my intellectual one.
Edit: The problem is, when you acknowledge that these things are maladaptive and problematic behaviors that someone presently does not control well, rather than some kind of seizure that completely robs one of consciousness...
IQs over about 115 are plainly maladaptive from an evolutionary standpoint.
Further, adaptations composed of independently maladaptive mutations can occur.
If it's not maladaptive, I don't think you can call it a disorder.
A rule in life: ruthlessly stomp on the maladaptive tendency of our brains to try to expand the scope of our responsibilities beyond the scope of our power.
A disease that kills and kills quickly is maladaptive -- that's why the Ebola reservoir is believed to be bats which can catch it but not suffer ill effects.
Quote examples
The reason why the author has a hard time finding a specific diagnosis is because her "maladaptive daydreams" are a symptom, not a disease.
It's not because they've got some ideal that they're trying to fit into that says "real rockstars don't ask for help" because that's totally maladaptive.
FTA: "Will maladaptive daydreaming ever end up in the DSM?
Looking back on it, I had a hilariously maladaptive "coping" technique: When I got a call from an exasperated client, asking "when will it be ready?" I said "It will be ready tonight", trusting my ninja coding skills.
Frequently asked questions
Short answers drawn from the clearest meanings and examples for this word.
How do you use maladaptive in a sentence?
Eating every couple hours is historically impossible, and just on that basis one can reason it's likely maladaptive.
What does maladaptive mean?
(psychology) Of behavior, showing inadequate or counterproductive mental and behavioral adaptation to a new situation.
What part of speech is maladaptive?
maladaptive is commonly used as adjective.