misrepresent
Americanverb (used with object)
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to represent incorrectly, improperly, or falsely.
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to represent in an unsatisfactory manner.
verb
Synonym Usage
Misrepresent, distort, falsify, belie share the sense of presenting information in a way that does not accord with the truth. Misrepresent usually involves a deliberate intention to deceive, either for profit or advantage: The dealer misrepresented the condition of the car. Distort implies a purposeful twisting or emphasizing of certain statements so as to produce an inaccurate or misleading impresssion: cleverly distorting the facts to create an impression of his own innocence. Falsify suggests a tampering with or alteration of facts, records, or documents, especially with the intent to cheat or deceive: He falsified the birth records to conceal his age. Belie means to create an impression that is inconsistent with the facts, or that contradicts other evidence but it does not usually suggest intent to deceive: Her casual, relaxed manner belies her insecurity.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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misrepresentationnoun
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misrepresenternoun
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premisrepresentverb (used with object)
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misrepresentativeadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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misrepresentsimple
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misrepresentssimple
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have misrepresentedperfect
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has misrepresentedperfect
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am misrepresentingprogressive
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are misrepresentingprogressive
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is misrepresentingprogressive
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have been misrepresentingperfect progressive
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has been misrepresentingperfect progressive
Past
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misrepresentedsimple
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had misrepresentedperfect
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was misrepresentingprogressive
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were misrepresentingprogressive
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had been misrepresentingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of misrepresent
Explanation
If you deliberately mislead someone — for example, by lying about your work experience at a job interview — you misrepresent yourself, or paint a false picture of who you are. The verb misrepresent can be a relatively gentle way to say "lie," or it can mean more of a bending of the truth. You might misrepresent the reliability of an old car you're trying to sell or accidentally misrepresent an author's intentions in a school book report. The word itself is built from the Old English prefix mis-, which means "bad or wrong," and represent, or "depict, describe, or symbolize."
Vocabulary lists containing misrepresent
Power Prefix: mis-
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mis-
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In the Words of Abraham Lincoln
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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:
You’re not doing anything physical—I don’t want to misrepresent what you’re doing.
From Slate ● May 19, 2026
The uptick is related to the use of AI by bad actors to misrepresent their income, Wickett said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 16, 2025
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute said the ad campaign used “selective audio and video” to misrepresent the former president’s address.
From Salon ● Dec. 2, 2025
"To completely misrepresent the accounts by this scale is just completely unacceptable," says Stuart McFadden from fraud investigation company Refundee, which represents some investors.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2025
“I don’t want to misrepresent it,” I say.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
In this case, I can’t see how ironing out a few wrinkles and covering a rumpled duvet with a digital bedspread materially misrepresents your home.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 3, 2026
"It misrepresents the legal position, it runs contrary to our values, it seeks to put us at odds with our longstanding support for LGBT+ people."
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2025
The problem, of course, is that he misrepresents reality to do so.
From Slate ● Sep. 8, 2025
But the authors of the rebuttal say the report misrepresents evidence, relies on discredited research and fails to follow the peer review process typically expected of rigorous scientific assessments, among other concerns.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2025
“Freddie never lies. He misrepresents, but he never lies.”
From "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison
Plaintiffs could try different arguments in cases against Bayer, such as alleging design defects in Roundup, or that the company misrepresented the weedkiller’s safety in its marketing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
Tyra Banks has filed a defamation lawsuit against Netflix and the directors of “Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model,” claiming that she was manipulated and misrepresented in the series.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026
He caught seven quotes attributed to previous court rulings that either did not appear in the original decisions or had been misrepresented.
From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026
“IULs are not inherently bad, but it’s misrepresented, sometimes fraudulently,” said Bill Boersma, a life-insurance expert who consulted on Busch’s case.
From MarketWatch ● May 27, 2026
Perhaps they felt as helpless as I did, but they left New Orleans misrepresented to the world.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
In November 2025, Monarch Tractor was sued by the Idaho-based dealership Burks Tractor, which accused Monarch of misrepresenting its autonomous technology.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2026
But environmental groups have accused his companies of misrepresenting their assets to avoid paying environmental penalties.
From Salon ● Jun. 10, 2026
In the most heated exchanges, dealers accuse him of misrepresenting himself.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 14, 2026
Multiple short sellers accused the company of misrepresenting its products and issuing false press releases.
From Barron's ● Mar. 2, 2026
Later editions of her Surinam book were needlessly reorganized according to different classification systems, garbling and misrepresenting her findings.
From "The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science" by Joyce Sidman
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.
