mistake
Americannoun
-
mistakes
plural
-
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)
-
mistakes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
mistook,
past
-
mistaken,
past participle
-
mistaking
present participle
-
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)
-
mistakes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
mistook,
past
-
mistaken,
past participle
-
mistaking
present participle
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:
As for the director of “Exorcist II: The Heretic,” John Boorman, he blames the viewers: “It was a mistake in terms of the audience,” he says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
"The biggest mistake is that people don't plan enough," he says.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
Sometimes clients come to Letsch having already tried to spend down as much as they can, but she considers that a mistake.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026
In any case, the Post did not fire Attiah for misquoting Kirk, although according to a CNN report that cited two staffers from the newspaper, “management also took issue” with the mistake.
From Salon ● Aug. 25, 2026
Caesar’s words are so soft, I almost mistake them for a breeze.
From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
They are fast-paced, overwhelming, and chaotic, and public health officials inevitably make mistakes.
From Slate ● Aug. 26, 2026
Root also said he had spoken to his England team-mate about the incident, and expressed his frustration at the "stupid mistakes" that are continually being made.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
New energy-efficiency regulation may be making builder mistakes more noticeable.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
Cofnas added that “Many passages are lifted with minimal editing, sometimes retaining copy-editing mistakes from the original source,” and found similar issues in other papers written by Arday.
From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2026
John Kennedy’s greatest fear was that he and Nikita Khrushchev were making the same mistakes as past leaders, bumbling down the same ruinous road.
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
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
Welsh singer Katherine Jenkins has described the evening she believed Hollywood actor Tom Cruise mistook her for royalty.
From BBC ● Jan. 27, 2026
“And even with the animal—you mistook it for something dangerous.”
From "Kindred" by Octavia Butler
It’s the mistaken belief that, after a coin comes up heads several times in a row, the chances of it coming up heads on the next flip are particularly low.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 17, 2026
He stressed that his resignation should not "be mistaken for an acceptance of the narratives that have surrounded me".
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
In a letter posted online, he said quitting was "the only way" to end a "difficult period", but insisted the decision should not be "mistaken for an acceptance of the narratives that have surrounded me".
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
The mistaken reports mark the latest snafu for Bilt, which faced blowback after revamping its rewards-for-rent credit card earlier this year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
His eyes were glassy, unfocused, and, if she was not mistaken, he almost smiled.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
Over his four seasons as USC’s coach, there’s no mistaking what’s held Riley back from reaching the same heights at USC as he had at Oklahoma.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026
Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan each pursued compromise as an end, thus mistaking delay for statesmanship.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
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
As twins, the brothers - who grew up in Coldingham - are used to people mistaking one for the other.
From BBC ● May 19, 2026
But when she’s with me, there’s no mistaking the fact that we belong together.
From "X: A Novel" by Ilyasah Shabazz
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.
