misinterpret
Americanverb (used with or without object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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misinterpretsimple
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misinterpretssimple
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have misinterpretedperfect
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has misinterpretedperfect
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am misinterpretingprogressive
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are misinterpretingprogressive
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is misinterpretingprogressive
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have been misinterpretingperfect progressive
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has been misinterpretingperfect progressive
Past
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misinterpretedsimple
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had misinterpretedperfect
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was misinterpretingprogressive
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were misinterpretingprogressive
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had been misinterpretingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of misinterpret
Explanation
When you misinterpret something, you get it wrong. If you misinterpret another driver's wave as a friendly hello, you're probably missing the fact that he's trying to tell you one of your headlights has blown. Misinterpreting can be fun or embarrassing on a personal level––you can, say, misinterpret a boy's interest in your friend, and think he want to go out with you. But it can be devastating on an international level. During the Cold War, the US and the USSR had to be very careful about sending signals about nuclear readiness––the cost of misinterpreting could be a nuclear war.
Vocabulary lists containing misinterpret
mis-
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mis-
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Part 1 Vocabulary (Unit 3)
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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:
"It was more about me being excited about the game, which I think people started to misinterpret as being absolute promises. And I wasn't smart enough to realise that."
From BBC ● Apr. 21, 2026
It may omit relevant information while summarizing, mix up who is speaking and misinterpret context—such as missing nonverbal cues.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 5, 2025
It’s easy for students to misunderstand and misinterpret college award letters that specify the financial aid they will receive.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 31, 2025
Did “Walter Bloomberg” merely misinterpret a Fox News clip?
From Slate ● Apr. 8, 2025
He can't let it all show up on his face so that they don't misinterpret his expressions.
From "Pride" by Ibi Zoboi
The court "misunderstands FIFRA's requirement, misinterprets the scope of FIFRA's preemption and ultimately leaves Durness without a remedy for the significant harms he has suffered."
From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026
Bentley introduced a detective who misinterprets the clues made available to the reader; his solution is proven wrong even though the same clues yield the correct answer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 2026
The new research, Wen says, misinterprets these changes as caused by the core’s spin rather than to its fluctuating surface.
From Scientific American ● Jan. 25, 2023
He’s Into Just That — Not You: A young woman misinterprets the overtures of a shoe salesman.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 16, 2022
Olly misinterprets my shiver and steps close to me to add his towel to my shoulders.
From "Everything, Everything" by Nicola Yoon
“It’s still an evolution, but iterations thanks to technology development are going so fast that it may be misinterpreted as a revolutionary approach,” said Gen. Michael Claesson, Sweden’s chief of defense.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
She later said the comments had been misinterpreted.
From Barron's ● Jul. 6, 2026
Chatfield said her old video had been misinterpreted and she had not called for any political violence against Donald Trump.
From BBC ● May 12, 2026
This could be especially helpful when individual signals are weak, unclear, or easily misinterpreted.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 15, 2026
I had clearly misinterpreted the scene in the hallway.
From "Paper Towns" by John Green
Ritholtz does exactly that, running through such surefire ways to wreck your wealth as ignoring taxes, paying excessive fees, misinterpreting data, overreacting to short-term trends, and trading too much.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
"Without accurate assessment tools, policymakers, developers and users risk misinterpreting what AI systems can actually do," he said.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 13, 2026
On Friday he took to social media to criticize “the usual idiots misinterpreting a Post article on Mets payroll.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 22, 2025
In its court submission, Meta said its "primary concern" was with the data commission, which it accused of "misinterpreting" data privacy laws.
From BBC ● May 2, 2025
“Oh dear, I hope you’re not too offended,” the dog continued, misinterpreting my silence.
From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs
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.
