- present participle of misunderstand.
misunderstanding
Americannoun
-
misunderstandings
plural
-
failure to understand correctly; mistake as to meaning or intent.
- Synonyms:
- misconception, error, misapprehension
-
a disagreement or quarrel.
- Synonyms:
- dissension, difficulty, difference, discord
- Antonyms:
- concord
noun
-
a failure to understand properly
-
a disagreement
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of misunderstanding
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English; mis- 1 + understanding
Explanation
A misunderstanding is what happens when you don't comprehend something correctly. It's also another name for a disagreement, like the misunderstanding you and your sister had about whose turn it was to do the dishes. The result of not clearly understanding someone or something is a misunderstanding. A misunderstanding between teammates can lead to dropped passes and lost points, and a misunderstanding of the pool rules can get you benched for doing a cannonball in the shallow end. You can also call a minor argument a misunderstanding.
Vocabulary lists containing misunderstanding
myPerspectives 8.3
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Words with 15 or More Letters, List 1
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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:
Or did Walker turn a misunderstanding at the gate into a viral story?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
Nonthaburi governor Chestha Mosikarat earlier told reporters the suspect and victim were "friends for a long time" and the incident likely stemmed from a misunderstanding.
From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026
“From that point of view, it becomes a more serious story, and it goes beyond misunderstanding to something more worrying.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
To some, it may feel like Araki is flattening complex social mores and misunderstanding the anxieties behind this era of semi-celibacy.
From Salon ● Jul. 31, 2026
Now he was sure that there was a grave misunderstanding taking place, and that unraveling it, disproving it, was going to take days.
From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers
The Palantir board strongly urged shareholders to vote down the proposals, saying they were “predicated on misunderstandings and inaccuracies about Palantir’s work.”
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
Yang: The misunderstandings are about people’s tones, and not necessarily about the things that people are pointing toward.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2026
But there are insights about his perception of—and plans for—America to be gained from examining those misunderstandings.
From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026
Waltzes continue to pepper the score throughout the tragic misunderstandings of the second act.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 13, 2026
Bruno’s revisions to, and misunderstandings of, Copernicus were misconceived.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
