mismatch
Americanverb (used with object)
-
mismatches,
present (3rd person singular)
-
mismatched,
past participle, past
-
mismatching
present participle
noun
-
mismatches
plural
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
mismatchsimple
-
mismatchessimple
-
have mismatchedperfect
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has mismatchedperfect
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am mismatchingprogressive
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are mismatchingprogressive
-
is mismatchingprogressive
-
have been mismatchingperfect progressive
-
has been mismatchingperfect progressive
Past
-
mismatchedsimple
-
had mismatchedperfect
-
was mismatchingprogressive
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were mismatchingprogressive
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had been mismatchingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of mismatch
Explanation
When two things (or people) don't work well together or correspond with each other, it's a mismatch. If there's a mismatch between the amount of free time you have and the hours of exercise your puppy needs, you might want to hire a dog walker. There might be a mismatch between workers' skills and the actual jobs that are available, or a mismatch between your aunt and uncle, who seem totally unsuited for each other. Mismatch is also a verb that means "match up badly," like when you mismatch your red shirt with your purple pants. Sometimes sports matches or games are called mismatches too, when one team is clearly superior to the other.
Vocabulary lists containing mismatch
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:
That makes "Digger" something of a mismatch, said Loria.
From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026
The epistemic mismatch between her idea of what would transpire and the frat brothers’ is truly tragic.
From Slate ● Oct. 9, 2026
The Financial Times reported that the mismatch was due to OpenAI investors trying to directly compare its annualized revenues with rival Anthropic, which determines this number differently.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
The current variant, H3N2 subclade K, appears similar to last year’s strain and is included in this year’s vaccine, reducing concern about a major mismatch between the vaccine and the flu strain, Chin-Hong said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
Unfortunately, the telecom companies weren’t paying close attention to the developing mismatch between demand and reality.
From "The World Is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman
On several occasions, small mismatches between measurements and expectations have eventually revealed that scientists were missing something important about how nature works.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026
“When you have 10 personnel and that many receivers that can catch the ball, it can create mismatches, and we play a lot of man, so who’s going to fold first?”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
It omits adjustments for risk or maturity mismatches.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
Similarly, longtime HSI insiders cautioned that using the agency’s databases and tools to search these lists would yield mismatches and wildly inflated results.
From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026
The economy, caught between two systems, is suffering from even greater mismatches between what is being produced and what would serve the best interests of enterprises and households.
From The 1991 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency
My favorite trick for making mismatched serving pieces look intentional is to keep them loosely within one color story.
From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2026
Millions of voters have also been flagged for additional scrutiny after the ECI used automated systems to detect what they described as "logical discrepancies", including mismatched names and inconsistencies in family details.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
The film hits its predictable highs and lows as the mismatched Owen and Emily get closer and romantic complications mount.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
What follows — the drained reserves, the mismatched oil, the strained grid and the price we all pay — is the fallout.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
Beauty-lanterns drift along streets paved with glistening stones, past mismatched shops painted in pastel shades and lined up like the frosted pastries in a bakery window.
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
Retro-themed decor is in, with trees jam-packed full of bold, mismatching decorations, as more people try to recreate a festive season from their childhood.
From BBC ● Dec. 20, 2025
"We find that user engagement increases when the national headquarters lead the production of content and the local accounts follow either by tweeting to a matching or mismatching audience, depending on timing in the operation."
From Science Daily ● Oct. 10, 2023
Flowers that bloom in early balmy weather run the risk of mismatching with their primary pollinators—such as hummingbirds or bees—which can follow non-climate-dependent cues such as day length.
From Scientific American ● Mar. 22, 2023
“The mismatching of financial market pricing and economic reality is both stark and stretched,” Bennett said.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 6, 2023
I mark the ground in squares of one rod and plant in every other crossing, mismatching to make the trees zigzag.
From The Apple by Various
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
