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:
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 remain confident in our record of protecting teens online and will continue to defend ourselves against claims that misrepresent the facts.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 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
Harris and Watkins wrote letters to editors complaining they’d been quoted out of context, their story sensationalized to “distort, misrepresent and terrify.”
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
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
The problem, of course, is that he misrepresents reality to do so.
From Slate ● Sep. 8, 2025
“Jennifer, you’ve been about the worst. The one who misrepresents the most intentionally.”
From Salon ● Jun. 26, 2025
“Freddie never lies. He misrepresents, but he never lies.”
From "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison
Hegseth has said that some of the media reports have been "completely misrepresented".
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
Officials had seen an increase in “poison pen” messages, or anonymous accusations that an applicant misrepresented themselves, Pallie said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
The prime minister argues that was misrepresented by smugglers to promise an easy path to Europe.
From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026
That has raised concerns that some listings could be misrepresented, unsafe, or used to disguise more illicit services.
From Barron's ● Jun. 19, 2026
Baby Kochamma misrepresented the relationship between Ammu and Velutha, not for Ammu’s sake, but to contain the scandal and salvage the family reputation in Inspector Thomas Mathew’s eyes.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
In November 2025, Monarch Tractor was sued by the Idaho-based dealership Burks Tractor, which accused Monarch of misrepresenting its autonomous technology.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2026
But environmental groups have accused his companies of misrepresenting their assets to avoid paying environmental penalties.
From Salon ● Jun. 10, 2026
In the most heated exchanges, dealers accuse him of misrepresenting himself.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 14, 2026
Multiple short sellers accused the company of misrepresenting its products and issuing false press releases.
From Barron's ● Mar. 2, 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
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.
