misinterpret
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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misinterprets,
present (3rd person singular)
-
misinterpreted,
past participle, past
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misinterpreting
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
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
-
have been misinterpretingperfect progressive
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has been misinterpretingperfect progressive
Past
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misinterpretedsimple
-
had misinterpretedperfect
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was misinterpretingprogressive
-
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
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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:
But some users find that much like the models they’re built on—which can hallucinate, misinterpret or even commit spontaneous acts of cybercrime—their assistants, too, can behave unpredictably.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
Don’t misinterpret Macdonald and his team’s “we don’t care” mantra.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 8, 2026
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
So much comes into my head at night when I’m alone, or during the day when I’m obliged to put up with people I can’t abide or who invariably misinterpret my intentions.
From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank
A superintelligent AI system that ignores human goals or misinterprets commands could, naysayers say, scramble people’s bank accounts, disrupt essential water and power supplies, or take over missile-launch systems.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
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
In both cases, the judge profoundly misinterprets the law.”
From Salon ● Mar. 21, 2024
Olly misinterprets my shiver and steps close to me to add his towel to my shoulders.
From "Everything, Everything" by Nicola Yoon
Kant later said his comments had been misinterpreted and were directed specifically at young people using fake degrees, rather than the country's youth more broadly.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
Taking multiple medications increases the opportunity for a side effect to be misinterpreted as a separate diagnosis.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 11, 2026
Like “Born in the U.S.A.” and “Rockin’ in the Free World,” “Pink Houses” was practically destined to be misinterpreted by elected salesmen peddling easy fantasies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
“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
“Yes, that’s right. Friday morning. They were outside, in the “And there’s no way you could have misinterpreted what you saw'?
From "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins
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
This means geneticists will need to update their tools to avoid misinterpreting results.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 3, 2025
He accused the company of "unilaterally, regularly, and conveniently" misinterpreting the union's terms and conditions, but said the union was "open to any dialogue to resolve this situation".
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2025
But landlord groups contend that inevitable evictions will only be delayed, since the vast majority of cases churning through the courthouses do not stem from a landlord misinterpreting the law.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2024
“Oh dear, I hope you’re not too offended,” the dog continued, misinterpreting my silence.
From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
