English

Noun

misbegotten ‎(plural not attested)

1. (obsolete, sometimes used abusively) One born illegitimately (i.e., out of wedlock); a bastard.
2. (loosely, quasi-nominal collective, as “the misbegotten [are]”) That set of people born into infelicitous circumstances.
   • 1973, Philippa Foot, “Nietzsche: The Revaluation of Values” in Nietzsche: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Robert C. Solomon, Garden City, New York: Anchor Books, ISBN 0385033443, page 161:

     By preserving the incapable and “misbegotten”, and by insisting that they be the object of compassionate attention, it would cause even the strong to be infected with gloom and nihilism.

Translations

Adjective

misbegotten ‎(comparative more misbegotten, superlative most misbegotten)

1. (of a person) Born out of wedlock; illegitimate.
2. (by extension, figuratively) Ill-conceived.
   • 2012 March 22nd, Scott Tobias, “Cabin Boy” in The A.V. Club:

     Many of the strangest, most misbegotten studio films of the last 20 years have been comedies, perhaps because middle-aged executives have no comprehension of what the younger generation finds funny.

3. expressing contempt, disdain, or hatred

Translations

See also

References

• OED (3rd ed., June 2002), “misbegotten, n. and adj.”