misunderstand
Americanverb (used with object)
-
misunderstands,
present (3rd person singular)
-
misunderstood,
past participle, past
-
misunderstanding
present participle
-
to take (words, statements, etc.) in a wrong sense; understand wrongly.
- Synonyms:
- misinterpret, misapprehend, misconstrue
-
to fail to understand or interpret rightly the words or behavior of.
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
misunderstandsimple
-
misunderstandssimple
-
have misunderstoodperfect
-
has misunderstoodperfect
-
am misunderstandingprogressive
-
are misunderstandingprogressive
-
is misunderstandingprogressive
-
have been misunderstandingperfect progressive
-
has been misunderstandingperfect progressive
Past
-
misunderstoodsimple
-
had misunderstoodperfect
-
was misunderstandingprogressive
-
were misunderstandingprogressive
-
had been misunderstandingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of misunderstand
First recorded in 1150–1200, misunderstand is from the Middle English word misunderstanden. See mis- 1, understand
Explanation
To misunderstand is to incorrectly interpret what someone means. If you misunderstand the directions for taking your medication, you might end up feeling loopy or passing out. When a football player misunderstands the coach's instructions, he might make the wrong play. If a baker misunderstands what you ask him to write on your best friend's birthday cake, he might misspell her name. The verb misunderstand adds the "bad" or "wrong" prefix mis- to understand, from an Old English root, understandan, that literally means "stand in the midst of."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Hopefully Hollywood won’t misunderstand the lesson in those projects’ success.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
To dismiss that language as frivolous, Shah argues, is to misunderstand what it is doing.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
We also discovered—without too much surprise—that he often seems to fundamentally misunderstand the works he treasures most deeply.
From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026
Nvidia remains undervalued by investors, perhaps because they misunderstand the company’s true data-center dominance.
From Barron's ● May 29, 2026
“We really are the same one and we mustn’t misunderstand on purpose.”
From "A Farewell To Arms" by Ernest Hemingway
That is because Kagan believes the question itself misunderstands the Fourth Amendment.
From Slate ● Jun. 29, 2026
De Zylva argues this misunderstands the point: "The purpose of the green belt isn't to be green per se, it is to be a buffer to prevent sprawl."
From BBC ● Apr. 22, 2026
“This case misunderstands YouTube, which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site,” said Jose Castañeda, a Google spokesman, in a statement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 28, 2026
Samet: Perhaps the market misunderstands the level of Nvidia’s software play.
From Barron's ● Mar. 27, 2026
The evidence is clear: not only does della Porta echo Garzoni’s words, but he misunderstands some of the experiments he claims to have performed, and so misreports them.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Holmes and Evans embrace what they call “radical transparency,” opening their home to the cameras in hopes of convincing the filmmakers — and eventually the world — that the public has fundamentally misunderstood her.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2026
After WSJ reported on the email, a DOJ spokeswoman said the official misunderstood a directive to push back a scheduled meeting.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
Canadians have never felt quite safe with America, while Americans have consistently misunderstood and underestimated the enormous land to the north.
From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2026
Postpartum psychosis isn’t widely understood, which is why, at least in part, this trial is so misunderstood.
From Slate ● Aug. 25, 2026
Aureliano Segundo, ashamed, pretended an attack of rage, said that he was misunderstood and abused, and did not visit her again.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
"This is a complete misunderstanding, Your Honour. My client was trying to get a picture of Ms Clancy," Light's attorney Jennifer White said in court.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
According to the researchers, the controversy sparked by the findings reported last November was caused by a misunderstanding in the analysis rather than evidence that scientists' basic picture of the universe had suddenly broken down.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 29, 2026
Or did Walker turn a misunderstanding at the gate into a viral story?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
“From that point of view, it becomes a more serious story, and it goes beyond misunderstanding to something more worrying.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
“I’m sorry about the misunderstanding, but Bea Trixie said she’s seen you playing catch with Annie. She said you two have a lot of fun. Can’t you play with her?”
From "Al Capone Does My Shirts" by Gennifer Choldenko
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
