misremember

American  

[mis-ri-mem-ber] / ˌmɪs rɪˈmɛm bər /

verb (used with or without object)

1. to remember incorrectly.

2. to fail to remember; forget.

---

Etymology

Origin of misremember

First recorded in 1525–35; mis- ¹ + remember

Explanation

When you misremember, you don't remember accurately. If you recall meeting your best friend in kindergarten, but you actually met in second grade, you misremember the way the two of you met. When someone misremembers your name, they might call you "Steve" until you correct them, and if you misremember the plot of a book, your English teacher won't appreciate the book report you write about it. Misremember uses the common "bad" or "wrong" prefix, mis-, combined here with remember, from its Latin source rememorari, "recall to mind."

Example Sentences

What we tend to do is to misremember the length, based on the bar's size, recalling longer bars as shorter and shorter bars as longer.

From Science Daily • Apr. 24, 2024

Self-reported data can sometimes be unreliable because people may misremember, potentially exaggerating or downplaying their experience.

From Scientific American • Oct. 25, 2023

Because people can misremember, philosophers distinguish between remembering and seeming to remember.

From Textbooks • Jun. 15, 2022

To reckon with this history is to consider what is allowable at any moment, what we are willing to misremember, to forget, who we are willing to shun, to exclude.

From Washington Post • Aug. 20, 2021

Facts are made in the image not of people, who misremember, misquote and misrepresent, but of books, immutable but mobile.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton