mishear
Americanverb (used with object)
-
mishears,
present (3rd person singular)
-
misheard,
past participle, past
-
mishearing
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
mishearsimple
-
mishearssimple
-
have misheardperfect
-
has misheardperfect
-
am mishearingprogressive
-
are mishearingprogressive
-
is mishearingprogressive
-
have been mishearingperfect progressive
-
has been mishearingperfect progressive
Past
-
misheardsimple
-
had misheardperfect
-
was mishearingprogressive
-
were mishearingprogressive
-
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
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
Honda’s voice assistant is also difficult to use: it sounds robotic and monotone, and would often mishear my commands.
From The Verge ● Oct. 12, 2017
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
The reporter may have misheard the comment, or maybe the person being quoted actually said it, or something odd happened in the editing process.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
But this was the first time I wondered if I had misheard him.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2025
Michael Tierney, defending, put it to the witness that she misheard him, but she denied this.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2024
He said the player misheard the signal and erroneously called for the field goal.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 7, 2023
“I must have misheard you. I thought you said that you lost my bag?”
From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley
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
A detailed run-down of Siri in 2011 from Ars Technica highlights problems familiar today, with the assistant dinged for mishearing instructions in loud spaces and mangling complex commands.
From The Verge ● Oct. 4, 2021
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
She repeats the name several times after the desk clerk keeps mishearing her.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
