Meaning & use
mis-selling
Last updated
Meaning
noununcountableBritishbusinessfinancelegal
The illegal or unethical practice of selling a financial product by giving false or misleading information.
Grammar: Uncountable: mis-selling is not used with 'a' or in the plural.
Patterns
- mis-selling of something
- mis-selling scandal
- accused of mis-selling
The bank was fined for the mis-selling of payment protection insurance.
Thousands of customers were victims of mis-selling.
The company faced a major mis-selling scandal.
Common combinations
- mis-selling scandal
- The mis-selling scandal cost the bank billions.
- mis-selling of insurance
- The mis-selling of insurance products was widespread.
- accused of mis-selling
- The firm was accused of mis-selling loans to vulnerable people.
Synonyms and how they differ
- fraud
- Fraud is a broader legal term for cheating, while mis-selling specifically refers to dishonest sales of financial products.
- deceptive selling
- This is a more general term that can apply to any product, not just financial ones.
Opposites
Word family
- mis-sell verb
- To sell something by giving false information.
- mis-seller noun
- A person or company that mis-sells.
Commonly confused: mis-selling or misselling?
mis-selling vs misselling
Some people spell it without a hyphen, but the hyphenated form is standard in British English.
Practice
The financial advisor was investigated for the ______ of risky investments to elderly clients.
Choose one answer.
The phrase 'the ______ of' requires a noun, and 'mis-selling' is the noun form. 'Mis-sold' is a verb form and does not fit after 'the'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “mis-selling”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.