misgive

American

[mis-giv] / mɪsˈgɪv /

verb (used with object)

misgave, misgiven, misgiving

(of one's mind, heart, etc.) to give doubt or apprehension to.

verb (used without object)

misgave, misgiven, misgiving

to be apprehensive.

misgive British

/ mɪsˈɡɪv /

verb

to make or be apprehensive or suspicious

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of misgive

First recorded in 1505–15; mis- ¹ + give

Vocabulary lists containing misgive

"The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet," Vocabulary from Act 1

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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.

It was probably an unspoken sense of this fact which caused the early Tuscan poets to misgive their own powers and to turn wistfully and shyly towards the poets of Provence and of Sicily.

From Euphorion Being Studies of the Antique and the Mediaeval in the Renaissance - Vol. II by Lee, Vernon

"We may both have need for the exercise ere we depart hence, or my thoughts misgive me," replied Mortimer.

From Traditions of Lancashire, Volume 2 by Roby, John

Love is a matter of give and take—marriage, a matter of misgive and mistake.

From A Guide to Men Being Encore Reflections of a Bachelor Girl by Rowland, Helen

That seems hard; and your heart will misgive you.

From The Land of Footprints by White, Stewart Edward

I did tell Berry he'd better stay an' du what Marse Sykes wanted him ter, 'stead of comin' tu der meetin', an' my mind misgive me all day kase he didn't.

From Bricks Without Straw by Tourgée, Albion Winegar

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023