misunderstand
Americanverb (used with object)
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misunderstands,
present (3rd person singular)
-
misunderstood,
past participle, past
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misunderstanding
present participle
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to take (words, statements, etc.) in a wrong sense; understand wrongly.
- Synonyms:
- misinterpret, misapprehend, misconstrue
-
to fail to understand or interpret rightly the words or behavior of.
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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misunderstandsimple
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misunderstandssimple
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have misunderstoodperfect
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has misunderstoodperfect
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am misunderstandingprogressive
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are misunderstandingprogressive
-
is misunderstandingprogressive
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have been misunderstandingperfect progressive
-
has been misunderstandingperfect progressive
Past
-
misunderstoodsimple
-
had misunderstoodperfect
-
was misunderstandingprogressive
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were misunderstandingprogressive
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had been misunderstandingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of misunderstand
First recorded in 1150–1200, misunderstand is from the Middle English word misunderstanden. See mis- 1, understand
Explanation
To misunderstand is to incorrectly interpret what someone means. If you misunderstand the directions for taking your medication, you might end up feeling loopy or passing out. When a football player misunderstands the coach's instructions, he might make the wrong play. If a baker misunderstands what you ask him to write on your best friend's birthday cake, he might misspell her name. The verb misunderstand adds the "bad" or "wrong" prefix mis- to understand, from an Old English root, understandan, that literally means "stand in the midst of."
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:
Hopefully Hollywood won’t misunderstand the lesson in those projects’ success.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
To dismiss that language as frivolous, Shah argues, is to misunderstand what it is doing.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
We also discovered—without too much surprise—that he often seems to fundamentally misunderstand the works he treasures most deeply.
From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026
They misunderstand the proper role of an economic system.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026
If she said yes, he might manage to misunderstand her hatred of him.
From "Copper Sun" by Sharon M. Draper
Such a view misunderstands what the court is up to in those rare instances when it has stood up to the president.
From Slate ● Sep. 16, 2026
De Zylva argues this misunderstands the point: "The purpose of the green belt isn't to be green per se, it is to be a buffer to prevent sprawl."
From BBC ● Apr. 22, 2026
“This case misunderstands YouTube, which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site,” said Jose Castañeda, a Google spokesman, in a statement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 28, 2026
Samet: Perhaps the market misunderstands the level of Nvidia’s software play.
From Barron's ● Mar. 27, 2026
The evidence is clear: not only does della Porta echo Garzoni’s words, but he misunderstands some of the experiments he claims to have performed, and so misreports them.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
"I do not want to entrust national pride to the wrong people," said Klopp, who prefers the term "positive patriotism" to "national pride", which he fears can be misunderstood.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
If its reach has been misunderstood, other explanations built around the traditional model may also need to be reconsidered.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 14, 2026
Holmes and Evans embrace what they call “radical transparency,” opening their home to the cameras in hopes of convincing the filmmakers — and eventually the world — that the public has fundamentally misunderstood her.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2026
An enterprising historian would profit by using Mr. Riley’s material to paint a fuller picture of a widely misunderstood presidency.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
However, many people these days think fulsome means merely “full,” so avoid it if you might be misunderstood.
From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner
When he began practicing urology in the 1980s, the common misunderstanding was that testosterone injections caused prostate cancer, further suppressing research and treatment of testosterone deficiency.
From Slate ● Sep. 13, 2026
Speaking from personal experience, I’ve encountered many a cat misunderstanding from non-kitty people.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
"Constraining LLM development under a misunderstanding of fair use doctrine would thwart such creative and scientific progress while hindering American prosperity and economic mobility," the document read.
From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026
"This is a complete misunderstanding, Your Honour. My client was trying to get a picture of Ms Clancy," Light's attorney Jennifer White said in court.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
There had clearly been some kind of misunderstanding, he told Johnson.
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin
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.
