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Synonyms

mistook

American  
[mi-stook] / mɪˈstʊk /

verb

  1. the simple past tense of mistake.

mistook British  
/ mɪˈstʊk /

verb

  1. the past tense of mistake

"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

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.

At least 59 detainees were freed because the system mistook them for other people.

From Barron's • Mar. 17, 2026

This time it hit after he booted his own center Steven Jamerson II from a game at Michigan State on Feb. 17, overreacting because he mistook a clean basketball play for something else.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 8, 2026

A black author once mistook me for Deroy Murdock, another black journalist who appears on Fox News.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 23, 2025

When Close introduced herself and shook her hand, she was left starstruck, and got the giggles when Mila Kunis mistook her for an extra, rather than an actual vicar.

From BBC • Nov. 28, 2025

“I was on my knees before her, swearing my allegiance, but she mistook me for my brother, Jaime, and fed me to her dragons.”

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

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.