mispronounce

American  

[mis-pruh-nouns] / ˌmɪs prəˈnaʊns /

verb (used with or without object)

mispronounced, mispronouncing

1. to pronounce incorrectly.

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mispronounce British  

/ ˌmɪsprəˈnaʊns, ˌmɪsprəˌnʌnsɪˈeɪʃən /

verb

1. to pronounce (a word) wrongly

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Other Word Forms

• mispronouncer
  noun
• mispronunciation
  noun

Etymology

Origin of mispronounce

First recorded in 1585–95; mis- ¹ + pronounce

Explanation

To mispronounce is to say something incorrectly. It can be pretty awkward when you mispronounce someone's name, especially if you know the person well. Some words are easy to mispronounce, like February, realtor, and meteorology, simply because the sounds don't flow gracefully off the tongue. In other cases, non-native English speakers might mispronounce a word because it doesn't sound at all the way it looks — like tongue, for example. In any case, the verb mispronounce combines the prefix mis-, "wrong or bad," and pronounce, "to utter or say."

Example Sentences

Yet audience members would gladly correct any comic who’d assume the restaurant was Mexican, or mispronounce the word “pupusas,” as Battle sheepishly recalled during his own set.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 19, 2025

We all stumble over and mispronounce words occasionally.

From Salon • Mar. 7, 2024

The findings also suggest that when listening to children, adult listeners incorporate expectations of how children commonly mispronounce words, such as "weed" for "read."

From Science Daily • Oct. 26, 2023

“And the cheer for Musl— we cheer for Muslim athletes, like Kareem Al-J—Al-J— Abdul-Jabbar. I know him and I did mispronounce his name.”

From Washington Times • May 3, 2023

“If I mispronounce your name, I apologize,” he said.

From "Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference" by Warren St. John

Related Words

• garble