mishear
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
mishearsimple
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mishearssimple
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have misheardperfect
-
has misheardperfect
-
am mishearingprogressive
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are mishearingprogressive
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is mishearingprogressive
-
have been mishearingperfect progressive
-
has been mishearingperfect progressive
Past
-
misheardsimple
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had misheardperfect
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was mishearingprogressive
-
were mishearingprogressive
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had been mishearingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of mishear
before 1000; Middle English misheren, Old English mishīeran. See mis- 1, hear
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:
They don't want to put themselves in situations where they may mishear or seem disengaged, disinterested or unintelligent.
From Salon ● Dec. 10, 2022
Bixby, I learned, has a tendency to mishear certain radio DJs saying “KEXP” as its own name.
From The Verge ● Apr. 8, 2022
I will tell you this: They are always listening for the wake word, and tech companies admit smart assistants mishear commands more often than any of us would like.
From Fox News ● Oct. 16, 2021
“Did we all mishear, or is this spokesperson really so shameless?”
From Reuters ● Feb. 10, 2021
People love to mishear “Imagine” as a ditty about how our righteous beliefs excuse us from taking necessary action.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 3, 2020
He emphasizes the importance of all 11 players remaining in sync because, if even one player mishears an assignment, the whole scheme crumbles.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 19, 2019
Caroline gets a taste of this fervor when in conversation with Cindy she mishears the words "personal savior " as "personal trainer" and starts laughing, causing an awkward silence between them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 3, 2014
The guy in charge of the guest list mishears my name and lets me in as Tom Odell.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 24, 2013
He then goes to his car, there is a Jackie Leven CD playing and he mishears the song.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2012
But this was the first time I wondered if I had misheard him.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2025
At first, Edwards thought she had misheard but set about taking pictures anyway.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2024
On Thursday, López posted on his Instagram Story that he had been misheard and had actually referred to himself as “the worst teammate” in the league.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 30, 2024
“What were the things going through your mind when you heard, or misheard, ‘I did him so bad?’” defense attorney Jim Griffin asked Croft during cross-examination.
From Washington Times ● Feb. 1, 2023
I was headed to the vestibule with the children when I heard what I thought I had misheard.
From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez
Masli, mishearing his worry, assumed he didn’t have a place to go and found someone in the audience who was happy to invite him to her house for a family gathering.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2025
In roughly 150 of the recordings, the broadcaster says the assistant appears to have activated incorrectly after mishearing its wake word.
From The Verge ● Jul. 12, 2019
Last spring, Alexa was creeping people out by randomly laughing; it turned out the device was too easily mishearing the command “Alexa laugh.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2018
She can’t seem to get my mishearing of the lyric out of her head, though.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 19, 2017
And are violations of the rule obvious products of mishearing, careless reading, or a chintzy attempt to sound highfalutin?
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
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.
