maladaptive
/ˌmæl.əˈdæp.tɪv/ (bre, ipa) · /ˌmæl.əˈdæp.tɪv/ (ame, ipa) · /ˌma-lə-ˈdap-tiv/ (ame, mw)
maladaptive — adjective
- maladaptivepositive
- more maladaptivecomparative
- most maladaptivesuperlative
1. describes a way of thinking, feeling, or behaving that fails to help a person ha
describes a way of thinking, feeling, or behaving that fails to help a person handle stress or change, and often makes their situation worse in the long run.
Yael's therapist explained that drinking every night was a maladaptive way of dealing with grief.
collocation: a maladaptive way of dealing with [problem]
Reema realised that avoiding her boss after every mistake had become a maladaptive coping pattern.
collocation: maladaptive coping pattern
Skipping meals before exams turned out to be a maladaptive response to anxiety for Andrés.
Children who grow up in chaotic homes sometimes learn maladaptive behaviours that follow them into adulthood.
The school counsellor noticed that constant lying had become a maladaptive habit for Selim.
- dysfunctional
broader; can describe families, systems, or behaviours that don't work as intended
- self-defeating
everyday register; emphasises that the behaviour undermines the person's own goals
- counterproductive
general; the action works against the result the person wants, without the clinical tone
文法句型
maladaptive + noun (behaviour, response, pattern, coping)
用法筆記
Subject is usually a behaviour, habit, response, pattern, or strategy — not a person directly. Common in clinical and self-help writing; in everyday speech most people say 'unhealthy' or 'self-defeating' instead.
常見錯誤
2. in biology, used of a feature of an animal or plant that lowers its chances of s
in biology, used of a feature of an animal or plant that lowers its chances of surviving or producing young in the environment it lives in.
The biology professor showed Folake how the moth's bright wings had become a maladaptive trait after the forest was cleared.
collocation: maladaptive trait
On the island, the birds' loss of flight proved maladaptive once rats arrived and began eating their eggs.
predicative use: prove / become maladaptive
Élise's research showed that the fish's bright colour was maladaptive in waters where new predators had appeared.
What once helped the species survive can become a maladaptive feature when the climate shifts quickly.
Christopher argued in his paper that the lizard's long tail had become maladaptive in the drier southern habitat.
- disadvantageous
more general; emphasises that the trait reduces fitness without the evolutionary framing
- deleterious
scientific register; often used of mutations specifically
- adaptive
the standard pair-word in evolutionary biology
- advantageous
general; a trait that improves survival or reproduction
文法句型
maladaptive + noun (trait, mutation, feature)
用法筆記
Distinguish from sense 1: this sense applies only to inherited biological features (traits, mutations, anatomy), not to human choices or habits. A trait becomes maladaptive when the environment changes around it.