miss the point

Idioms  

1. Overlook or fail to understand the essential or important part of something, as in Chris missed the point of Gwen's complaint, thinking she was opposed to the date of the next meeting. This expression employs point in the sense of “the salient portion,” a usage dating from the late 1300s.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

miss the point

Or you can, but you’ll miss the point.

From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2026

Such a plan may miss the point demonstrated by Tony the Tiger’s endurance: No matter what’s in the box, with cereal, what you’re buying is a friendly feeling.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026

Both statements can be technically accurate and still miss the point.

From MarketWatch ● May 27, 2026

It feels like a slice of Americana in New South Wales perhaps - but that would miss the point that here, rodeo has become very much an outback Australian tradition in its own right.

From BBC ● May 1, 2025

A lot of people will claim to be both, but those people miss the point entirely: You are predisposed to either one fate or the other.

From "An Abundance of Katherines" by John Green

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Related Words

• confuse
• miscalculate
• misconstrue
• misinterpret
• misjudge
• misread

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