misunderstand
Americanverb (used with object)
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misunderstands,
present (3rd person singular)
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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:
On a recent episode of What Next, host Mary Harris spoke to Pulido about what Democrats misunderstand about South Texas and whether he’s singing the right tune for Congress.
From Slate ● Sep. 28, 2026
"Because they misunderstand it, this is not being reflected to employees," says Rahman, who runs a London-based consultancy, HR Habitat.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
What do audiences underestimate or misunderstand about what it takes to make a comedy?
From Los Angeles Times ● May 26, 2026
“To suggest that one branch would seek to derive economic benefit from the Epstein matter would be to misunderstand those ties and to insult the decision-makers involved,” it said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026
“You did well, Perseus. Do not misunderstand me. Whatever else you do, know that you are mine. You are a true son of the Sea God.”
From "The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan
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
Amazon responded by saying the FTC "fundamentally misunderstands how advertisers operate".
From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026
For Barton, the red card illustrates something he believes the public still misunderstands: VAR does not eliminate the need for the referee to interpret the rules.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
Cameron Berg misunderstands the Catholic Church’s contribution to humanity’s self-understanding in his op-ed “Will the Pope Owe an Apology to AI?”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 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
Man City have denied the claims and say the Premier League had misunderstood the sponsorship agreements.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026
When scientists first discussed the possibility, the idea became widely misunderstood.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 23, 2026
Some were men who, like him, were misunderstood or misread, and Mr. Fukuyama writes of them as kindred spirits.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 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
Deep down inside I was just a scared little girl who was simply misunderstood.
From "The Freedom Writers Diary" by The Freedom Writers
That told me only one thing: This wasn’t a misunderstanding.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
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
All of this is a salutary lesson in the way tottering edifices of theology can be built on a small textual misunderstanding.
From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith
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.
