misunderstand

[mis-uhn-der-stand]

verb (used with object)

misunderstood, misunderstanding 

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.

misunderstand

/ ˌmɪsʌndəˈstænd /

verb

1. to fail to understand properly

Other Word Forms

• misunderstander noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of misunderstand¹

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

Example Sentences

“These events have been erroneously linked to the traditional private credit market as a result of misunderstandings and misinformation,” he said.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

But these bull-market apologists are laboring under a fundamental misunderstanding of bubbles: They don’t trace to weak earnings per se, but to how far ahead of those earnings the market rises.

Read more on MarketWatch

It’s difficult to tell exactly what set a fire under Krispy Kreme this time around, but one explanation is that it’s simply a misunderstanding.

Read more on Barron's

The approach was abandoned due to a significant misunderstanding of the thalidomide tragedy—when thousands of babies outside the U.S. were born with severe birth defects.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

I was fascinated by a woman who lived such a life of the mind that she had a sort of willful misunderstanding of the machinations of her body.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

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