From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdysfunctionaldys‧func‧tion‧al /dɪsˈfʌŋkʃənəl/ adjective 1 MPnot following the normal patterns of social behaviour, especially with the result that someone cannot behave in a normal way or have a satisfactory life dysfunctional family relationships2 TBROKENnot working properly or normally OPP functional
Examples from the Corpus
dysfunctional• The modification of dysfunctional attitudes is a key concern in Cognitive-Behaviour Therapy.• They say poor judgments by overburdened and undertrained caseworkers have reunited some irrevocably dysfunctional families.• They came from Williams' dysfunctional family, his tortured psyche and his repressed homosexuality.• a dysfunctional family• He notes the following dysfunctional possibilities.• The dysfunctional protein builds up in the brain and death results.• The second phase is more cognitive, aimed at the identification and modification of the dysfunctional silent assumptions.• Lousy schools and dysfunctional teachers were let off the hook.• Beyond historically determined levels of societal tolerance, crime is dysfunctional to social life.Origin dysfunctional (1900-2000) dys- “bad” (from Greek) + functional 