misunderstand

American  

[mis-uhn-der-stand] / ˌmɪs ʌn dərˈstænd /

verb (used with object)

• misunderstands,
  present (3rd person singular)
• misunderstood,
  past participle,  past
• misunderstanding
  present participle

1. to take (words, statements, etc.) in a wrong sense; understand wrongly.

   Synonyms:

   misinterpret, misapprehend, misconstrue

2. to fail to understand or interpret rightly the words or behavior of.

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misunderstand British  

/ ˌmɪsʌndəˈstænd /

verb

1. to fail to understand properly

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• misunderstander
  noun

Inflected Forms

Participles

• misunderstanding
  present
• misunderstood
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• misunderstand
  simple
• misunderstands
  simple
• have misunderstood
  perfect
• has misunderstood
  perfect
• am misunderstanding
  progressive
• are misunderstanding
  progressive
• is misunderstanding
  progressive
• have been misunderstanding
  perfect progressive
• has been misunderstanding
  perfect progressive

Past

• misunderstood
  simple
• had misunderstood
  perfect
• was misunderstanding
  progressive
• were misunderstanding
  progressive
• had been misunderstanding
  perfect progressive

Future

• will misunderstand
  simple
• will have misunderstood
  perfect
• will be misunderstanding
  progressive
• will have been misunderstanding
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of misunderstand

First recorded in 1150–1200, misunderstand is from the Middle English word misunderstanden. See mis- ¹, understand

Explanation

To misunderstand is to incorrectly interpret what someone means. If you misunderstand the directions for taking your medication, you might end up feeling loopy or passing out. When a football player misunderstands the coach's instructions, he might make the wrong play. If a baker misunderstands what you ask him to write on your best friend's birthday cake, he might misspell her name. The verb misunderstand adds the "bad" or "wrong" prefix mis- to understand, from an Old English root, understandan, that literally means "stand in the midst of."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

misunderstand misunderstands misunderstood misunderstanding

Hopefully Hollywood won’t misunderstand the lesson in those projects’ success.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026

We also discovered—without too much surprise—that he often seems to fundamentally misunderstand the works he treasures most deeply.

From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026

They misunderstand the proper role of an economic system.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026

Kaufman acknowledged mistakes can occur, but suggested many complaints arise when parents complete age checks on behalf of their children or misunderstand the process.

From BBC ● Apr. 13, 2026

But of course Kainene understood what she meant and had simply chosen to misunderstand.

From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

De Zylva argues this misunderstands the point: "The purpose of the green belt isn't to be green per se, it is to be a buffer to prevent sprawl."

From BBC ● Apr. 22, 2026

“This case misunderstands YouTube, which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site,” said Jose Castañeda, a Google spokesman, in a statement.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 28, 2026

“This case misunderstands YouTube, which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site.”

From Barron's ● Mar. 25, 2026

Penza said the argument that “they could have just left” misunderstands how consent works in these types of cases.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 15, 2026

The evidence is clear: not only does della Porta echo Garzoni’s words, but he misunderstands some of the experiments he claims to have performed, and so misreports them.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Campbell explained that second-generation Irish identity is often misunderstood, with artistic expressions of that heritage frequently provoking mixed reactions.

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

But I do think many have collectively misunderstood his apparent message of regret.

From Slate ● Jul. 31, 2026

Rather than disproving AI’s potential, this hiring rebound suggests many employers misunderstood where AI creates value.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026

Gaines said in an interview that his sentence about “traditional style” has been misunderstood, and he rejects the claims of cultural insensitivity that have been leveled against him.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026

As a people, we feel ourselves to be not only deeply injured, but grossly misunderstood.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

Or did Walker turn a misunderstanding at the gate into a viral story?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

Unlike the incident involving OpenAI's technology, Anthropic's models had access to the internet "due to a misunderstanding between us and our evaluation partner," called Irregular, Anthropic said in a blog post.

From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026

“From that point of view, it becomes a more serious story, and it goes beyond misunderstanding to something more worrying.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026

To some, it may feel like Araki is flattening complex social mores and misunderstanding the anxieties behind this era of semi-celibacy.

From Salon ● Jul. 31, 2026

It wasn’t a word that I misheard or a misunderstanding.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

Related Words

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