mistake
Americannoun
-
an error in action, calculation, opinion, or judgment caused by poor reasoning, carelessness, insufficient knowledge, etc.
- Synonyms:
- oversight, fault, erratum, inaccuracy
-
a misunderstanding or misconception.
- Antonyms:
- understanding
verb (used with object)
-
to regard or identify wrongly as something or someone else.
I mistook him for the mayor.
-
to understand, interpret, or evaluate wrongly; misunderstand; misinterpret.
- Synonyms:
- err, misjudge, misconceive
verb (used without object)
idioms
noun
-
an error or blunder in action, opinion, or judgment
-
a misconception or misunderstanding
verb
-
(tr) to misunderstand; misinterpret
she mistook his meaning
-
to take (for), interpret (as), or confuse (with)
she mistook his direct manner for honesty
-
(tr) to choose badly or incorrectly
he mistook his path
-
(intr) to make a mistake in action, opinion, judgment, etc
Commonly Confused
See misnomer.
Synonym Usage
Mistake, blunder, error, slip refer to deviations from right, accuracy, correctness, or truth. A mistake, grave or trivial, is caused by bad judgment or a disregard of rule or principle: It was a mistake to argue. A blunder is a careless, stupid, or gross mistake in action or speech, suggesting awkwardness, heedlessness, or ignorance: Through his blunder the message was lost. An error (often interchanged with mistake ) is an unintentional wandering or deviation from accuracy, or right conduct: an error in addition. A slip is usually a minor mistake made through haste or carelessness: a slip of the tongue.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
mistakesimple
-
mistakessimple
-
have mistakenperfect
-
has mistakenperfect
-
am mistakingprogressive
-
are mistakingprogressive
-
is mistakingprogressive
-
have been mistakingperfect progressive
-
has been mistakingperfect progressive
Past
-
mistooksimple
-
had mistakenperfect
-
was mistakingprogressive
-
were mistakingprogressive
-
had been mistakingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of mistake
First recorded in 1300–30; Middle English mistaken (verb), from Old Norse mistaka “to take in error.” see origin at mis- 1, take
Explanation
A mistake is an error, a goof, a slip-up. When you make a mistake, you've done something incorrectly. Mistake has a lot of uses, but they all have to do with doing the wrong thing. A mistake in math class will result in the wrong answer, but a mistake with a gun could get someone killed. If you mix up two people, you're mistaking one for the other. When you make a mistake, the best thing to do is admit it and try to make up for it; not apologizing for a mistake is another mistake.
Vocabulary lists containing mistake
"The Experiment" and "Superstition"
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"Indian Summer Sun" and "Almost Evenly Divided"
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"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"
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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:
But it also needed to avoid repeating the same mistake, he added.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026
If the video assistant referees believe a mistake has been made, they communicate that through an earpiece the match referee is wearing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026
If you stay on your line you can't make a mistake, but he showed maturity and bravery.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
When people fail or make a mistake, they can become very emotional and blame the new culture and country.
From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2026
I saw right away that Rowdy had made a terrible mistake.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
But to supporters, these mistakes are a small price to pay to never hear the words “VAR controversy.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
“When you’re asking more and more of people without giving them the necessary resources, you know, mistakes happen,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
The lesson of the scripture is that everyone can be redeemed, can change, no matter what mistakes they have made.
From Slate ● Jul. 10, 2026
Bankruptcy stands as a way to rewrite your future, not be forever reprimanded for the mistakes of your past.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 10, 2026
Until today, the mistakes I made at Lou Ann’s were small.
From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko
During a nighttime field survey, researchers initially mistook the animal for a mushroom, highlighting just how convincing its disguise is.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 17, 2026
Mott set off a security alarm when he jumped the fence, but the operator on duty mistook the cause of the alert as a herd of deer just outside the fence.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2026
At least 59 detainees were freed because the system mistook them for other people.
From Barron's ● Mar. 17, 2026
Characterized as “myths,” for example, were the age-old beliefs that Native Americans mistook the conquistadors for gods, and that a mere handful of Spaniards toppled great empires with ease.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 2, 2026
I remembered how back home in Kraków, people sometimes mistook me for a Gentile.
From "Prisoner B-3087" by Alan Gratz
Greenspan is remembered for telling a member of Congress that if the lawmaker thought he understood what Greenspan was saying, he was certainly mistaken.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 11, 2026
Oh, and any mistaken understandings about what they just said?
From Slate ● Jul. 2, 2026
Don’t be mistaken: “Couture” is not a happy film, at least not in the traditional sense.
From Salon ● Jun. 29, 2026
A mistaken theorem can work its way into flawed financial, medical or engineering systems.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 2026
Having answered the Count’s salutation, I turned to the glass again to see how I had been mistaken.
From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker
This is an easy category error for anyone to make when talking about tourism, mistaking a country’s boundless beauty and hospitality toward visitors for anything else.
From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2026
There is little chance of mistaking the test car for typical Mercedes fare.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 2, 2026
Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell said some outlets accused Hegseth of mistaking Jackson’s Golden Globe-winning performance with actual scripture, and called that narrative “fake news.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 16, 2026
A U.S. military investigation found that multiple human and systems errors had resulted in the strike team mistaking the building for a Taliban target.
From Salon ● Mar. 11, 2026
There was no mistaking the eagerness in her voice.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
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.
