misrepresent
Americanverb (used with object)
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to represent incorrectly, improperly, or falsely.
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to represent in an unsatisfactory manner.
verb
Synonym Usage
Misrepresent, distort, falsify, belie share the sense of presenting information in a way that does not accord with the truth. Misrepresent usually involves a deliberate intention to deceive, either for profit or advantage: The dealer misrepresented the condition of the car. Distort implies a purposeful twisting or emphasizing of certain statements so as to produce an inaccurate or misleading impresssion: cleverly distorting the facts to create an impression of his own innocence. Falsify suggests a tampering with or alteration of facts, records, or documents, especially with the intent to cheat or deceive: He falsified the birth records to conceal his age. Belie means to create an impression that is inconsistent with the facts, or that contradicts other evidence but it does not usually suggest intent to deceive: Her casual, relaxed manner belies her insecurity.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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misrepresentationnoun
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misrepresenternoun
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premisrepresentverb (used with object)
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misrepresentativeadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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misrepresentsimple
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misrepresentssimple
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have misrepresentedperfect
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has misrepresentedperfect
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am misrepresentingprogressive
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are misrepresentingprogressive
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is misrepresentingprogressive
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have been misrepresentingperfect progressive
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has been misrepresentingperfect progressive
Past
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misrepresentedsimple
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had misrepresentedperfect
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was misrepresentingprogressive
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were misrepresentingprogressive
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had been misrepresentingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of misrepresent
Explanation
If you deliberately mislead someone — for example, by lying about your work experience at a job interview — you misrepresent yourself, or paint a false picture of who you are. The verb misrepresent can be a relatively gentle way to say "lie," or it can mean more of a bending of the truth. You might misrepresent the reliability of an old car you're trying to sell or accidentally misrepresent an author's intentions in a school book report. The word itself is built from the Old English prefix mis-, which means "bad or wrong," and represent, or "depict, describe, or symbolize."
Vocabulary lists containing misrepresent
Power Prefix: mis-
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mis-
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In the Words of Abraham Lincoln
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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:
The uptick is related to the use of AI by bad actors to misrepresent their income, Wickett said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 16, 2025
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute said the ad campaign used “selective audio and video” to misrepresent the former president’s address.
From Salon ● Dec. 2, 2025
But there are things you can do as an attorney if you misrepresent the record.
From Slate ● Oct. 9, 2025
"To completely misrepresent the accounts by this scale is just completely unacceptable," says Stuart McFadden from fraud investigation company Refundee, which represents some investors.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2025
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
New York Times spokesperson Danielle Rhoades Ha said in an email to the Associated Press that Griffin’s lawsuit “repeatedly misrepresents The New York Times story and its reporting.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026
In this case, I can’t see how ironing out a few wrinkles and covering a rumpled duvet with a digital bedspread materially misrepresents your home.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 3, 2026
J&J says this misrepresents the context of the document, which references a hypothetical calculation, as requested by the FDA.
From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2025
The problem, of course, is that he misrepresents reality to do so.
From Slate ● Sep. 8, 2025
“Freddie never lies. He misrepresents, but he never lies.”
From "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison
Tyra Banks has filed a defamation lawsuit against Netflix and the directors of “Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model,” claiming that she was manipulated and misrepresented in the series.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026
He caught seven quotes attributed to previous court rulings that either did not appear in the original decisions or had been misrepresented.
From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026
The law was used by the Justice Department after the 2008 financial crisis to prosecute cases where it alleged that banks had misrepresented the quality of the mortgage-backed securities that led to the crisis.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026
It claims 3M withheld and misrepresented details about the foam and its environmental impact, assuring them it was safe, despite knowing otherwise.
From BBC ● May 28, 2026
Baby Kochamma misrepresented the relationship between Ammu and Velutha, not for Ammu’s sake, but to contain the scandal and salvage the family reputation in Inspector Thomas Mathew’s eyes.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
But environmental groups have accused his companies of misrepresenting their assets to avoid paying environmental penalties.
From Salon ● Jun. 10, 2026
The union contends UC is misrepresenting who would receive the raises and by how much, arguing the examples are not representative of a membership with an average salary of $62,000.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2026
Prosecutors said that Milton made repeated statements exaggerating or misrepresenting the capabilities of the company and its products.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 18, 2026
Uber avoided paying the taxes by misrepresenting its contracts with its French drivers, according to online publication Revue21, in the US company's latest dispute in Europe over the status of its drivers.
From Barron's ● Feb. 2, 2026
Later editions of her Surinam book were needlessly reorganized according to different classification systems, garbling and misrepresenting her findings.
From "The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science" by Joyce Sidman
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.
