misunderstand
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to take (words, statements, etc.) in a wrong sense; understand wrongly.
- Synonyms:
- misinterpret, misapprehend, misconstrue
-
to fail to understand or interpret rightly the words or behavior of.
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
misunderstandsimple
-
misunderstandssimple
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have misunderstoodperfect
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has misunderstoodperfect
-
am misunderstandingprogressive
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are misunderstandingprogressive
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is misunderstandingprogressive
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have been misunderstandingperfect progressive
-
has been misunderstandingperfect progressive
Past
-
misunderstoodsimple
-
had misunderstoodperfect
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was misunderstandingprogressive
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were misunderstandingprogressive
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had been misunderstandingperfect progressive
Future
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
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:
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
Nvidia remains undervalued by investors, perhaps because they misunderstand the company’s true data-center dominance.
From Barron's ● May 29, 2026
What do audiences underestimate or misunderstand about what it takes to make a comedy?
From Los Angeles Times ● May 26, 2026
“To suggest that one branch would seek to derive economic benefit from the Epstein matter would be to misunderstand those ties and to insult the decision-makers involved,” it said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026
Not to understand this is to misunderstand the public uses of schooling and to trivialize the nature of intimate life—a family’s ‘language.’
From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez
That is because Kagan believes the question itself misunderstands the Fourth Amendment.
From Slate ● Jun. 29, 2026
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
Samet: Perhaps the market misunderstands the level of Nvidia’s software play.
From Barron's ● Mar. 27, 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
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
The KC said the 16-year-old was "not a misunderstood angel" but argued that Amen was "hunting" his client.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
But for a film to become a misunderstood classic, it has to be worth paying any attention to in the first place.
From Salon ● Jun. 27, 2026
Shalom is a proud advocate for People Who Stutter, promoting awareness around this misunderstood disability.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
Being misunderstood was all part of the package.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
A pair of diners who left a restaurant without paying a £115 bill - which included a £52 Dover sole - have said it was a "misunderstanding", its owner has said.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
A court spokeswoman said the exchange was based on a misunderstanding.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026
Citrini pushed back, flagging a “fundamental misunderstanding of the business model.”
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 25, 2026
But that clip did eventually come out, in late 2016, after Trump had already won that year’s election, and the depth of Trump’s misunderstanding of the film was striking.
From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026
“Yeah? Must be a twin thing,” he says, misunderstanding.
From "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson
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.
