misbegotten
Americanadjective
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unlawfully or irregularly begotten; born of unmarried parents; illegitimate.
his misbegotten son.
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badly conceived, made, or carried out.
his misbegotten plan.
adjective
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unlawfully obtained
misbegotten gains
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badly conceived, planned, or designed
a misbegotten scheme
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Also: misbegot. literary illegitimate; bastard
Etymology
Origin of misbegotten
Explanation
If you describe something as misbegotten, you think it had an improper basis or was poorly conceived — like the misbegotten dress code at your school, which requires students to wear long sleeves even in hot, humid weather. The adjective misbegotten, which commonly means "badly planned," used to have another use: it was a derogatory way to describe someone born to unmarried parents. It's extremely old fashioned to use the word that way, but you may come across it in an older book — describing a misbegotten heroine, for example. Misbegotten can also be used simply to mean "contemptible," as in "That misbegotten villain stole my grandmother's purse!"
Vocabulary lists containing misbegotten
The House of the Scorpion
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A Storm of Swords
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A Girl Named Disaster
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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.
Appeared in the November 11, 2025, print edition as 'A Misbegotten Musical'.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 10, 2025
Other productions announced for the Almeida's new season on Friday include A Moon for the Misbegotten.
From BBC • Sep. 20, 2024
The general feeling was that A Moon for the Misbegotten is a far more impressive play than The Iceman Cometh.
From Time Magazine Archive
When Detroit's policeman-censor threatened to close Eugene O'Neill's A Moon for the Misbegotten unless the actors stopped saying certain words, the words were just quietly dropped.
From Time Magazine Archive
Big cultural event in Columbus, Ohio, was the world premiere of A Moon for the Misbegotten, new play by: 1.
From Time Magazine Archive
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.
