mistake
Americannoun
-
mistakes
plural
-
an error in action, calculation, opinion, or judgment caused by poor reasoning, carelessness, insufficient knowledge, etc.
- Synonyms:
- oversight, fault, erratum, inaccuracy
-
a misunderstanding or misconception.
- Antonyms:
- understanding
verb (used with object)
-
mistakes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
mistook,
past
-
mistaken,
past participle
-
mistaking
present participle
-
to regard or identify wrongly as something or someone else.
I mistook him for the mayor.
-
to understand, interpret, or evaluate wrongly; misunderstand; misinterpret.
- Synonyms:
- err, misjudge, misconceive
verb (used without object)
-
mistakes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
mistook,
past
-
mistaken,
past participle
-
mistaking
present participle
idioms
noun
-
an error or blunder in action, opinion, or judgment
-
a misconception or misunderstanding
verb
-
(tr) to misunderstand; misinterpret
she mistook his meaning
-
to take (for), interpret (as), or confuse (with)
she mistook his direct manner for honesty
-
(tr) to choose badly or incorrectly
he mistook his path
-
(intr) to make a mistake in action, opinion, judgment, etc
Commonly Confused
See misnomer.
Synonym Usage
Mistake, blunder, error, slip refer to deviations from right, accuracy, correctness, or truth. A mistake, grave or trivial, is caused by bad judgment or a disregard of rule or principle: It was a mistake to argue. A blunder is a careless, stupid, or gross mistake in action or speech, suggesting awkwardness, heedlessness, or ignorance: Through his blunder the message was lost. An error (often interchanged with mistake ) is an unintentional wandering or deviation from accuracy, or right conduct: an error in addition. A slip is usually a minor mistake made through haste or carelessness: a slip of the tongue.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
mistakesimple
-
mistakessimple
-
have mistakenperfect
-
has mistakenperfect
-
am mistakingprogressive
-
are mistakingprogressive
-
is mistakingprogressive
-
have been mistakingperfect progressive
-
has been mistakingperfect progressive
Past
-
mistooksimple
-
had mistakenperfect
-
was mistakingprogressive
-
were mistakingprogressive
-
had been mistakingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of mistake
First recorded in 1300–30; Middle English mistaken (verb), from Old Norse mistaka “to take in error.” see origin at mis- 1, take
Explanation
A mistake is an error, a goof, a slip-up. When you make a mistake, you've done something incorrectly. Mistake has a lot of uses, but they all have to do with doing the wrong thing. A mistake in math class will result in the wrong answer, but a mistake with a gun could get someone killed. If you mix up two people, you're mistaking one for the other. When you make a mistake, the best thing to do is admit it and try to make up for it; not apologizing for a mistake is another mistake.
Vocabulary lists containing mistake
"The Experiment" and "Superstition"
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"Indian Summer Sun" and "Almost Evenly Divided"
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"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"
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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.
See Examples For:
Once Gerry noticed this mistake, he became "numb".
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
Every diversified portfolio looked like a mistake next to the index.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026
“He told me at the end of my freshman year, ‘You’re going to start and if you make a mistake, it’s OK.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
In a recent study of real clinical cases, some AI models gave safer advice than generalist physicians, but other models made a serious mistake in more than 1 in 5 cases.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Hila had started the family tree after he made the mistake of asking her for help on a family history project for school.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
"Serious mistakes like this are inevitable when a national retailer does hundreds of thousands of ID checks indiscriminately with this sinister surveillance tech," she said.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
Soon after opening a separate office in his native northern England he gave an interview there to Elizabeth Day, a writer, whose podcast "How to Fail" invites celebrities to reflect on mistakes they have made.
From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026
Rams rookie quarterback Ty Simpson puts in a solid debut and avoids making any major mistakes in a 20-12 preseason win over the Kansas City Chiefs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
Clinical geneticist Dr. Xiao P. Peng, who helped confirm Hinken’s family’s diagnoses, said the tools still make mistakes and are better at generating possible leads, translating complex medical jargon and compiling research than making diagnoses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
More like, mistakes are proof you need to find a way to improve.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
Among the most heartbreaking finds were remains in a paper bag that police mistook for a baby bird.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
During a nighttime field survey, researchers initially mistook the animal for a mushroom, highlighting just how convincing its disguise is.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 17, 2026
At least 59 detainees were freed because the system mistook them for other people.
From Barron's ● Mar. 17, 2026
This time it hit after he booted his own center Steven Jamerson II from a game at Michigan State on Feb. 17, overreacting because he mistook a clean basketball play for something else.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 8, 2026
"King Edmund caught me in the street and mistook me for you. I suppose we must look like one another. Can I get out the way you've got in?"
From "The Horse and His Boy" by C.S. Lewis
He stressed that his resignation should not "be mistaken for an acceptance of the narratives that have surrounded me".
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
In a letter posted online, he said quitting was "the only way" to end a "difficult period", but insisted the decision should not be "mistaken for an acceptance of the narratives that have surrounded me".
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
The repetition made the claims feel increasingly familiar – and familiarity can be mistaken for evidence.
From Salon ● Aug. 2, 2026
“They’re leaving consumers with the mistaken impression that the Lilly product is vastly superior to the Novo product,” said Kuckelman.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
No one would have mistaken the two for friends.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
A premise that had sounded a bit ridiculous—a trout mistaking my cast for an alighting insect—had been proven real.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026
This is an easy category error for anyone to make when talking about tourism, mistaking a country’s boundless beauty and hospitality toward visitors for anything else.
From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2026
Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell said some outlets accused Hegseth of mistaking Jackson’s Golden Globe-winning performance with actual scripture, and called that narrative “fake news.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 16, 2026
You might be forgiven for mistaking this as a nightclub but the 50 people - mostly women - are here for an hour of cardio and strengthening.
From BBC ● Mar. 21, 2026
There is no signature, but there is no mistaking the authorship:
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
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.
