misjudge
Americanverb (used with or without object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of misjudge
Explanation
When you misjudge someone, you have mistaken ideas about what they're like. Politicians who misjudge their constituents aren't often reelected. If you've ever found yourself jumping to conclusions about someone after meeting them once, and then realizing they aren't the way you thought they were, you know what it is to misjudge someone. If a tennis player misjudges her opponent, she's likely to miss an unexpected shot and lose the match. When you judge, you form an opinion about someone or something. Now add the "bad or wrong" prefix mis-, and you've got misjudge.
Vocabulary lists containing misjudge
mis-
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"Earth (A Gift Shop)," Vocabulary from the short story
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mis-
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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.
Misjudge the distance to a gout of flame?
From The Verge • Nov. 10, 2021
Misjudge a theme and your costume becomes a prison of your own making for the next three hours, or 90 minutes, or however long you can bear to stick it out.
From The Guardian • Oct. 28, 2016
Misjudge this balance and a repeat of 2011 is possible: Italy 22 France 21.
From The Guardian • Feb. 2, 2013
Misjudge, mis-juj′, v.t. and v.i. to judge wrongly.—n.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various
It is sad that so many of worth, Still in the flesh," soughed the yew, "Misjudge their lot whom kindly earth Secludes from view.
From Moments of Vision and Miscellaneous Verses by Hardy, Thomas
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.
