Synonyms

misinterpret

American

[mis-in-tur-prit] / ˌmɪs ɪnˈtɜr prɪt /

verb (used with or without object)

to interpret, explain, or understand incorrectly.

misinterpret British

/ ˌmɪsɪnˈtɜːprɪt /

verb

(tr) to interpret badly, misleadingly, or incorrectly

"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

Other Word Forms

misinterpretable adjective
misinterpretation noun
misinterpreter noun
unmisinterpretable adjective

Etymology

Origin of misinterpret

First recorded in 1580–90; mis- ¹ + interpret

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.

But she warned it could risk being misinterpreted as "a softening of Canada's assessment of the national and economic security challenges China poses".

From Barron's

But like film, this pithy observation is often misinterpreted.

From Salon

"This reversal of the normal suppression effect suggests that the brain's prediction mechanism may be disrupted in people currently experiencing auditory hallucinations, which may cause their own inner voice to be misinterpreted as external speech."

From Science Daily

EDO said on Friday that the decision on the breach-of-contract claim “misinterpreted the complexity of events from a decade ago.”

From The Wall Street Journal

While conceding some of his comments were "shocking and hurtful", Fattah contends some of the old messages were misinterpreted.

From BBC

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