misrepresent
Americanverb (used with object)
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misrepresents,
present (3rd person singular)
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misrepresented,
past participle, past
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misrepresenting
present participle
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to represent incorrectly, improperly, or falsely.
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to represent in an unsatisfactory manner.
verb
Synonym Usage
Misrepresent, distort, falsify, belie share the sense of presenting information in a way that does not accord with the truth. Misrepresent usually involves a deliberate intention to deceive, either for profit or advantage: The dealer misrepresented the condition of the car. Distort implies a purposeful twisting or emphasizing of certain statements so as to produce an inaccurate or misleading impresssion: cleverly distorting the facts to create an impression of his own innocence. Falsify suggests a tampering with or alteration of facts, records, or documents, especially with the intent to cheat or deceive: He falsified the birth records to conceal his age. Belie means to create an impression that is inconsistent with the facts, or that contradicts other evidence but it does not usually suggest intent to deceive: Her casual, relaxed manner belies her insecurity.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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misrepresentationnoun
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misrepresenternoun
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premisrepresentverb (used with object)
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misrepresentativeadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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misrepresentsimple
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misrepresentssimple
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have misrepresentedperfect
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has misrepresentedperfect
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am misrepresentingprogressive
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are misrepresentingprogressive
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is misrepresentingprogressive
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have been misrepresentingperfect progressive
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has been misrepresentingperfect progressive
Past
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misrepresentedsimple
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had misrepresentedperfect
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was misrepresentingprogressive
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were misrepresentingprogressive
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had been misrepresentingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of misrepresent
Explanation
If you deliberately mislead someone — for example, by lying about your work experience at a job interview — you misrepresent yourself, or paint a false picture of who you are. The verb misrepresent can be a relatively gentle way to say "lie," or it can mean more of a bending of the truth. You might misrepresent the reliability of an old car you're trying to sell or accidentally misrepresent an author's intentions in a school book report. The word itself is built from the Old English prefix mis-, which means "bad or wrong," and represent, or "depict, describe, or symbolize."
Vocabulary lists containing misrepresent
Power Prefix: mis-
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mis-
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In the Words of Abraham Lincoln
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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:
Prosecutors with the Ventura County district attorney’s office challenged the move, arguing Luster continued to misrepresent the nature of his crimes and remained a threat to public safety.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 19, 2026
Meta is "confident in our record of protecting teens online and will continue to defend ourselves against claims that misrepresent the facts," Meta told AFP in a statement Thursday.
From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026
"We will take all available legal action against attempts to misrepresent our company," said the spokesperson.
From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026
Par for the course, maybe, but the episode was so grossly stupid, it gave birth to a resolution by scientists to stop feeding the media worst-case scenarios to misrepresent.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026
Facts are made in the image not of people, who misremember, misquote and misrepresent, but of books, immutable but mobile.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
The suit, Paramount has said, misrepresents the current state of the entertainment industry, particularly because it isn’t considering the streaming marketplace in its evaluation of competition and market share.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
New York Times spokesperson Danielle Rhoades Ha said in an email to the Associated Press that Griffin’s lawsuit “repeatedly misrepresents The New York Times story and its reporting.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026
In this case, I can’t see how ironing out a few wrinkles and covering a rumpled duvet with a digital bedspread materially misrepresents your home.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 3, 2026
J&J says this misrepresents the context of the document, which references a hypothetical calculation, as requested by the FDA.
From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2025
“Freddie never lies. He misrepresents, but he never lies.”
From "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison
“We showed up at every turn starting from Day 1 until right now, and we’re just frankly disappointed” that the company’s efforts have been misrepresented, he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026
“Not only did Paramount leak the alleged substance of settlement discussions, but they misrepresented these discussions, demonstrating a lack of good faith,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
Lawyers for California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey are expected to question Bejar about Meta's practices around safety and growth, and whether the company publicly misrepresented what it knew, according to a court document.
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said reports about conditions aboard the Lincoln have been misrepresented.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
No one will care what events and which individuals were misrepresented to make a novel.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
Instead of a seller being fined for misrepresenting their goods, the shipment would be returned.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
As McDonnell spoke, the commission room erupted in jeers as several people accused the chief of misrepresenting what happened.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
But environmental groups have accused his companies of misrepresenting their assets to avoid paying environmental penalties.
From Salon ● Jun. 10, 2026
ImmunityBio received an FDA warning for misrepresenting Anktiva’s efficacy and administration, violating federal law.
From Barron's ● Mar. 24, 2026
Later editions of her Surinam book were needlessly reorganized according to different classification systems, garbling and misrepresenting her findings.
From "The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science" by Joyce Sidman
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
