misplace

[mis-pleys]

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verb (used with object), mis·placed, mis·plac·ing.

to put in a wrong place.
to put in a place afterward forgotten; lose; mislay.
to place or bestow improperly, unsuitably, or unwisely: to misplace one's trust.

Origin of misplace

First recorded in 1545–55; mis-¹ + place

Related formsmis·place·ment, noun

Synonyms for misplace

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3. misapply.

Synonym study

1, 2. See displace.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for misplacement

undoing, harm, disaster, misadventure, dispossession, mishap, deficiency, cost, want, need, casualty, death, catastrophe, shrinkage, ruin, privation, damage, depletion, perdition, injury

Examples from the Web for misplacement

Contemporary Examples of misplacement

The second issue is strategic, a misplacement of national security.
Colorado Blazes Remind Us That National Policy on Fire Needs a Fix
Stephen J. Pyne
June 29, 2012

Historical Examples of misplacement

Often the best policy in the case is just to forget the misplacement.
Leading Articles on Various Subjects
Hugh Miller
Who would credit it, that the misplacement of a unit could prove so singular.
Diary And Notes Of Horace Templeton, Esq.
Charles James Lever
This of course secures the books both from misplacement and from pillage.
A Book for All Readers
Ainsworth Rand Spofford
But there is another danger, aside from the misplacement of books.
A Book for All Readers
Ainsworth Rand Spofford
A thousand errors arise through the assumption of premises for one arising in the misplacement of terms.
A Logic Of Facts
George Jacob Holyoake

British Dictionary definitions for misplacement

misplace

verb (tr)

to put (something) in the wrong place, esp to lose (something) temporarily by forgetting where it was placed; mislay
(often passive) to bestow (trust, confidence, affection, etc) unadvisedly

Derived Formsmisplacement, noun

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

Word Origin and History for misplacement

misplace

1550s, "to assign a wrong position to;" see mis- (1) + place (v.). Of affections, confidence, etc., "to give to a wrong object," it is recorded from 1630s. Related: Misplaced; misplacing.