This is the 470th most frequent French word.
placé
"Placed" or "situated."
In this instance, 'placé' is an adjective describing someone's advantageous situation or positioning for an opportunity.
Il est bien placé pour obtenir cette promotion.
He is well positioned to get that promotion.
Here, 'placé' is the past participle of the verb 'placer', indicating the action of putting something in a specific location.
Nous avons placé les fleurs sur la table.
We placed the flowers on the table.
In this sentence, 'placé' is used as part of an adjectival phrase ('mal placé') modifying 'objet' to express improper placement, with implicit emphasis on the consequence.