mispronounce

American

[mis-pruh-nouns] / ˌmɪs prəˈnaʊns /

verb (used with or without object)

mispronounced, mispronouncing

to pronounce incorrectly.

mispronounce British

/ ˌmɪsprəˈnaʊns, ˌmɪsprəˌnʌnsɪˈeɪʃən /

verb

to pronounce (a word) wrongly

"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

Other Word Forms

mispronouncer noun
mispronunciation noun

Etymology

Origin of mispronounce

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

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.

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

Last week, Oakland Athletics announcer Glen Kuiper appeared to mispronounce “negro” during the pregame show on NBC Sports California when talking about a visit to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.

From Washington Times • May 9, 2023

Titans safety Kevin Byard has been hearing people mispronounce his name most of his life.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 12, 2021

Again, while others had great difficulty in understanding me, I couldn’t hear myself mispronounce words.

From "Bad Boy" by Walter Dean Myers

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023