misjudge
Americanverb (used with or without object)
-
misjudges,
present (3rd person singular)
-
misjudged,
past participle, past
-
misjudging
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
misjudgesimple
-
misjudgessimple
-
have misjudgedperfect
-
has misjudgedperfect
-
am misjudgingprogressive
-
are misjudgingprogressive
-
is misjudgingprogressive
-
have been misjudgingperfect progressive
-
has been misjudgingperfect progressive
Past
-
misjudgedsimple
-
had misjudgedperfect
-
was misjudgingprogressive
-
were misjudgingprogressive
-
had been misjudgingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of misjudge
Explanation
When you misjudge someone, you have mistaken ideas about what they're like. Politicians who misjudge their constituents aren't often reelected. If you've ever found yourself jumping to conclusions about someone after meeting them once, and then realizing they aren't the way you thought they were, you know what it is to misjudge someone. If a tennis player misjudges her opponent, she's likely to miss an unexpected shot and lose the match. When you judge, you form an opinion about someone or something. Now add the "bad or wrong" prefix mis-, and you've got misjudge.
Vocabulary lists containing misjudge
mis-
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
"Earth (A Gift Shop)," Vocabulary from the short story
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
mis-
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
He converted his pole position into a lead at the first corner, only to misjudge the grip available at Turn Two, slide wide, and gift his position to team-mate Oscar Piastri.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
Because people may forget foods or misjudge how much they consumed, self reported diet data can be imperfect.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 18, 2026
“Families continually misjudge how fast the need for care can expand,” says Farr.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 15, 2026
“It’s one thing to make a mistake or misjudge something or be ignorant,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 9, 2025
The stakes are higher of course, play the wrong song in a tavern and people might hiss you, but misjudge an entire town and things can get uglier than that.
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
“Legally Blonde” sets up Elle to be underestimated by everybody, including the audience, although the movie drops small hints from the very start that perhaps everyone misjudges her at their peril.
From Salon ● Jul. 6, 2026
This discovery of Orage’s significance in Katherine Mansfield’s life and work matters to scholars, but Ms. Kimber misjudges how much it might engross readers of a biography.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2026
Mr Walsh told the BBC: "Anyone who believes that this is just a temporary downturn and therefore can be fixed with temporary measures, I'm afraid seriously misjudges what the industry is going through."
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2020
Lippman says customers appreciate those special editions, but if his staff misjudges demand for a certain title, he could be stuck with thousands of paper doorstops.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 19, 2017
But he briefly gets caught in the portrait of President Washington and misjudges the thickness of the bunting decorating the front of the box.
From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly
“It also appears that some insurers misjudged utilization trends or other aspects of the market environment.”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026
That is the product of one company’s own misjudged bet on rates, not any indication of poorly underwritten FHA mortgages.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
But the most obvious explanation might be the correct one: Acme’s first adjuster misjudged the damage, possibly with a bias toward keeping costs down for the company.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 10, 2026
The city, they concluded, had misjudged the situation but had not pursued Gamble from a place of malice.
From Slate ● May 4, 2026
Unfortunately, I misjudged slightly the timing of my emergence.
From "The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro
She has faced criticism from her audience for undergoing the procedure, which she feels stems from people "misjudging" her reasons.
From BBC ● Mar. 7, 2026
Management launched the deal anyway, misjudging how unpopular it would be with clients, then canceled the merger.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 2, 2026
“This high visibility acts as a better deterrent for people and helps prevent animals from accidentally running into the wire or misjudging a jump,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 1, 2026
Simply put, whether due to misjudging the country’s mood or the increasingly obvious effects of poor health and aging, the president has been off his game.
From Salon ● Dec. 1, 2025
I had spent almost my entire life misjudging birds.
From This Side of Wild by Gary Paulsen
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.
