miscalculate
Americanverb (used with or without object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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miscalculatesimple
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miscalculatessimple
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have miscalculatedperfect
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has miscalculatedperfect
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am miscalculatingprogressive
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are miscalculatingprogressive
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is miscalculatingprogressive
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have been miscalculatingperfect progressive
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has been miscalculatingperfect progressive
Past
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miscalculatedsimple
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had miscalculatedperfect
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was miscalculatingprogressive
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were miscalculatingprogressive
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had been miscalculatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of miscalculate
Explanation
If you add two plus two and get five, you miscalculate. In other words, you've added the numbers incorrectly. You can use the verb miscalculate when you're talking about actual mathematical calculations, or when you measure something in an inexact way and get it wrong. Another way to use the word is to mean "judge incorrectly," which happens when you guess that your grandmother will laugh after sitting on a whoopie cushion, but you guess wrong. Mis, in this word, means "bad or wrong," and calculate means "to compute or estimate."
Vocabulary lists containing miscalculate
mis-
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UCPS 6th Grade Roots List #3
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mis-
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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:
Because of negativity bias, we miscalculate the upsides and downsides of social life.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2024
Then I mentioned to him what the veteran reporter had said to me about the risk that “confirmation bias” was yet again causing the press corps to miscalculate Trump’s odds of survival.
From Slate ● May 20, 2024
Every time any actor decides to roll the iron dice of war, there is a significant chance that they are going to miscalculate.
From Salon ● Apr. 17, 2024
Some here in South Korea agree, arguing the spy satellite, by offering accurate data, reduces the odds the isolated Kim regime will miscalculate and start a war.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 28, 2023
I ain’t partial to swords—the time on the reverse is too long if you miscalculate your swing—but it’s better than a couple of rusty gardening blades.
From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland
But if it miscalculates and raises rates too high or too fast, history suggests it could trigger a recession.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 18, 2018
He goes over his tallies, in case he miscalculated, but he never miscalculates.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 13, 2016
A system that consistently miscalculates energy use risks being falsely reassuring or forcing the user into an unnecessarily restrictive diet.
From The Verge ● Jun. 3, 2014
Even when the team indisputably miscalculates, as when the Spurs signed Richard Jefferson to a high-dollar multiyear deal, the situation is dealt with quietly and efficiently.
From Slate ● May 29, 2012
Avoid pride, too; it often miscalculates, and more often misconceives.
From The Gentlemen's Book of Etiquette and Manual of Politeness Being a Complete Guide for a Gentleman's Conduct in all his Relations Towards Society by Hartley, Cecil B.
Umanksy points to Measure ULA, the voter-approved tax widely referred to as the “mansion tax,” as an example of miscalculated promised outcomes.
From MarketWatch ● May 22, 2026
But regardless of the intention, Fairhope miscalculated in prosecuting Gamble.
From Slate ● May 4, 2026
“I think the company miscalculated the benefits versus losses,” said Collis, a Carnegie Mellon University professor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 23, 2026
Drake was due to play in Amsterdam two days after the final Manchester show, but his team had miscalculated the time it would take to ship the stage across the North Sea.
From BBC ● Mar. 13, 2026
She thought Albert had somehow miscalculated, and she soon forgot.
From "Go Set a Watchman: A Novel" by Harper Lee
Plus, President Trump says Iran is miscalculating his urgency to end the war, and the administration’s new bank accounts for children goes live.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026
The food safety watchdog has issued new guidance over caffeine in food supplements after a man died miscalculating the amount he was meant to use.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2024
Ford was accused of misleading the EPA by intentionally miscalculating factors used in certification testing.
From Reuters ● Apr. 21, 2023
They include big-ticket items, such as miscalculating the need for massive barriers to prevent freight trains on nearby tracks derailing and crashing into a bullet train.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 11, 2023
Professors may prove to their own satisfaction that it is not history at all, and Carlyle has been posthumously convicted of miscalculating the distance from Paris to Varennes.
From The Life of Froude by Paul, Herbert W. (Herbert Woodfield)
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.
