misjudge
Americanverb (used with or without object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
misjudgesimple
-
misjudgessimple
-
have misjudgedperfect
-
has misjudgedperfect
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am misjudgingprogressive
-
are misjudgingprogressive
-
is misjudgingprogressive
-
have been misjudgingperfect progressive
-
has been misjudgingperfect progressive
Past
-
misjudgedsimple
-
had misjudgedperfect
-
was misjudgingprogressive
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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-
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mis-
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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:
When central bankers misjudge the moment, markets adjust quickly, and policy makers are forced to follow.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 9, 2026
Without accounting for this process, models may misjudge how carbon moves through the ocean and how the system responds to environmental stress.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 8, 2026
This time, Norris did not have space to edge alongside and appeared to misjudge the manoeuvre.
From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2025
“It’s one thing to make a mistake or misjudge something or be ignorant,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 9, 2025
This type of phenomenon has been described in the psychological literature as pluralistic ignorance, in which people misjudge the norm.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
“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
"Jurrien doesn't panic and he is really fast so, even if he misjudges a situation, he can still make it up," says Reiziger, who believes Timber's best position is centre-back.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2023
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
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
Chalamet's comments may have been misjudged, but his crimes are pretty low-level in comparison with some of the wrongdoing that's been perpetrated in Hollywood over the years.
From BBC ● Mar. 9, 2026
Yet in a remarkable demonstration of their grit, Butterfield and Kean scored six points across the final two ends to force an extra decider, but misjudged their final two shots as Italy won 11-10.
From BBC ● Mar. 9, 2026
Mrs. Narcissus tried to push Echo away, but she misjudged where the camouflaged girl was and ended up shoving several other nymphs.
From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan
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
By that point, Descovich has expressed regret about possibly misjudging Glaude’s civics teacher, and one candidate in this fantasy gubernatorial race knowingly has capitalized on a manufactured scandal.
From Salon ● Oct. 22, 2025
Then there’s the struggling position players, the Dodgers bringing back ineffective Kiké Hernández while sticking with a slumping Chris Taylor and misjudging former-prospect-turned-suspect Gavin Lux.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2024
Kandula was walking westbound on Thomas Street when she tried to cross Dexter Avenue North, either not seeing or misjudging the speed of the oncoming cruiser, which was northbound on Dexter at 74 mph.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 21, 2024
That was how Reni had finally gone under: misjudging the speed he could leap aboard.
From "Ship Breaker" by Paolo Bacigalupi
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.
