misquote
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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misquotes,
present (3rd person singular)
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misquoted,
past participle, past
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misquoting
present participle
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
misquotesimple
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misquotessimple
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have misquotedperfect
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has misquotedperfect
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am misquotingprogressive
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are misquotingprogressive
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is misquotingprogressive
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have been misquotingperfect progressive
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has been misquotingperfect progressive
Past
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misquotedsimple
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had misquotedperfect
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was misquotingprogressive
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were misquotingprogressive
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had been misquotingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of misquote
Explanation
To misquote someone is to incorrectly repeat the words they've said. It's unethical for a journalist to deliberately misquote the subject of an interview. It's extremely common for people to misquote famous figures like Gandhi (who never literally said, "Be the change you wish to see in the world") and Machiavelli (who didn't exactly say, "The ends justify the means"). These examples can also be called misquotes. As with many words, Shakespeare is credited with being the first to use this combination of mis-, "wrong," and quote, "repeat or copy out exact words."
Vocabulary lists containing misquote
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:
Ziegler did not merely misquote Moore; she inverted its holding to endorse the very idea it rejected.
From Slate ● Nov. 26, 2025
But to misquote a former prime minister, Brexit means more than Brexit.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2025
And, to misquote a well-known Monty Python line, “no one ever expects a pandemic.”
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 16, 2024
To misquote Faulkner only slightly, the past, in America, is never really past.
From Salon ● Nov. 26, 2023
Danny caught his father in a misquote, ran to get a Talmud from a shelf, and triumphantly showed his father where he had been wrong.
From "The Chosen" by Chaim Potok
ChatGPT, Ms. Shackney said, sometimes incorrectly explains ideas and misquotes sources.
From New York Times ● Jan. 16, 2023
On March 16, 2021, the paper corrected a couple of misquotes that it had printed.
From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2022
Listed between celebrity misquotes and political mishaps was a trend for an oversized cat along with an orangutan who got free from a zoo and wreaked havoc.
From The Verge ● Jan. 30, 2019
Rep. Davis even misquotes it as: “Nothing in this bill shall allow insurance companies to deny anyone coverage for preexisting conditions.”
From Washington Post ● Oct. 29, 2018
Then, trying to recover her spirits: "'What one suffers for one's country—men!'" she misquotes, with an affectation of lightness.
From Airy Fairy Lilian by Margaret Wolfe Hamilton (AKA Duchess)
He opened with the oft-quoted – and misquoted - line from Oscar Wilde about the US and England having everything in common "except, of course, a language".
From BBC ● Apr. 28, 2026
“Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated,” says the text over the photo, referencing a famous and famously misquoted line from the American literary icon.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2025
His opinion repeatedly misquoted key pieces of evidence to accuse officials of saying things that they did not.
From Slate ● Sep. 18, 2025
But Green denied doing so, claiming that the article misquoted him.
From Salon ● Feb. 6, 2024
She quoted Frost; she misquoted Stevens; she paraphrased Rilke's description of love.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
In any case, the Post did not fire Attiah for misquoting Kirk, although according to a CNN report that cited two staffers from the newspaper, “management also took issue” with the mistake.
From Salon ● Aug. 25, 2026
BBC presenter Matt Chorley has apologised for misquoting Nigel Farage during an interview about the murder of Henry Nowak.
From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2026
“I would hope that they would continue to recognize the primary intent of the paper and be very meticulous about avoiding misquoting or mischaracterizing what that paper is for.”
From Scientific American ● Oct. 16, 2023
Artificial intelligence accused of misquoting and defaming people online could face litigation as a result of the false information it outputs, legal experts warn.
From Washington Times ● Apr. 13, 2023
When he was done misquoting the poem on the Statue of Liberty, the youngest, Fifi, asked if she could blow out the candle, and Mami said only after everyone had made a wish.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
