misapprehend
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of misapprehend
Explanation
Misapprehend is a verb that means to misunderstand. One place you definitely don't want to misapprehend instructions is on the plane when you're getting ready to skydive for the first time! The word misapprehend is sometimes used as a synonym for the word misunderstand, so you can use it in a similar way, but more for misunderstanding meaning than mishearing. Since apprehend means to grasp or catch, misapprehend can likewise mean to not grasp knowledge or information. For example, if someone is speaking in scientific lingo about acrocentric chromosomes and locus heterogeneity, and you don't understand what they're talking about, you might ask them to clarify in different terms so you don't misapprehend what they're saying.
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.
Americans, who usually think the world revolves around economics, consistently misapprehend how revolutionaries embrace tumult.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
Such proposals misapprehend the role of a judge under the Constitution and undermine public confidence in the Supreme Court and the judiciary generally.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 12, 2021
Some people misapprehend it and think of as imitation.
From New York Times ● Nov. 17, 2021
“Arguments that it isn’t possible to live without meat—implicitly, because of the role that meat played in human evolution—dramatically misapprehend the relationship between biology and destiny,” Berson writes.
From Slate ● Nov. 5, 2019
However disposed we may be to laugh at the airs of men, who so entirely misapprehend themselves and their constituents, our laughter should be tempered with charity.
From Dealings with the Dead, Volume I (of 2) by School, A Sexton of the Old
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.
