misread
Americanverb (used with or without object)
-
to read wrongly.
-
to misunderstand or misinterpret.
verb
-
to read incorrectly
-
to misinterpret
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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misreadsimple
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misreadssimple
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have misreadperfect
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has misreadperfect
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are misreadingprogressive
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am misreadingprogressive
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is misreadingprogressive
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have been misreadingperfect progressive
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has been misreadingperfect progressive
Past
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misreadsimple
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had misreadperfect
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was misreadingprogressive
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were misreadingprogressive
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had been misreadingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of misread
Explanation
To misread something is to read it but understand it in the wrong way. If you misread an article about local politics, you might end up supporting a candidate whose views you don't actually agree with. When you interpret a book, online article, or magazine story incorrectly, you misread it. You can also misread people, when you don't understand how they feel or what they intend: "She tended to misread cranky customers at the coffee shop, thinking they were joking when they were actually angry about something." The prefix mis- means "bad" or "wrong," and read can mean both "comprehend printed matter" or "make out a person's character."
Vocabulary lists containing misread
Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Prefixes: mis-
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"The Vietnam Wars" by Tod Olson
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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.
Even the material restraint—so easy to misread as austerity—proves strategic.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026
At the heart of this story are women – two died while others went on to have surgery as their smear tests had been misread for more than a decade.
From BBC • May 14, 2026
With the stock well off its record levels, I misread that.
From Barron's • May 4, 2026
Whether or not he misread the numbers he was seeing on the screen is another matter, and should not impact your refund.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 27, 2026
He felt that he was still groping in the dark; he had chosen his path but kept looking back, wondering whether he had misread the signs, whether he should not have taken the other way.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
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.
