misjudge
Americanverb (used with or without object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
misjudgesimple
-
misjudgessimple
-
have misjudgedperfect
-
has misjudgedperfect
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am misjudgingprogressive
-
are misjudgingprogressive
-
is misjudgingprogressive
-
have been misjudgingperfect progressive
-
has been misjudgingperfect progressive
Past
-
misjudgedsimple
-
had misjudgedperfect
-
was misjudgingprogressive
-
were misjudgingprogressive
-
had been misjudgingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of misjudge
Explanation
When you misjudge someone, you have mistaken ideas about what they're like. Politicians who misjudge their constituents aren't often reelected. If you've ever found yourself jumping to conclusions about someone after meeting them once, and then realizing they aren't the way you thought they were, you know what it is to misjudge someone. If a tennis player misjudges her opponent, she's likely to miss an unexpected shot and lose the match. When you judge, you form an opinion about someone or something. Now add the "bad or wrong" prefix mis-, and you've got misjudge.
Vocabulary lists containing misjudge
mis-
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mis-
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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:
Because people may forget foods or misjudge how much they consumed, self reported diet data can be imperfect.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 18, 2026
“Families continually misjudge how fast the need for care can expand,” says Farr.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 15, 2026
Cramps can creep up on those who misjudge their pre-match routine.
From BBC ● Feb. 27, 2025
“It’s one thing to make a mistake or misjudge something or be ignorant,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 9, 2025
Obviously Rhonda and Number Two were worried the children might misjudge Mr. Benedict.
From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart
“Legally Blonde” sets up Elle to be underestimated by everybody, including the audience, although the movie drops small hints from the very start that perhaps everyone misjudges her at their peril.
From Salon ● Jul. 6, 2026
This discovery of Orage’s significance in Katherine Mansfield’s life and work matters to scholars, but Ms. Kimber misjudges how much it might engross readers of a biography.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2026
"Jurrien doesn't panic and he is really fast so, even if he misjudges a situation, he can still make it up," says Reiziger, who believes Timber's best position is centre-back.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2023
Lippman says customers appreciate those special editions, but if his staff misjudges demand for a certain title, he could be stuck with thousands of paper doorstops.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 19, 2017
If he misjudges it, he may end up fouling other horses and being disqualified, checking his horse sharply and sacrificing his momentum or even falling.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
But the most obvious explanation might be the correct one: Acme’s first adjuster misjudged the damage, possibly with a bias toward keeping costs down for the company.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 10, 2026
The city, they concluded, had misjudged the situation but had not pursued Gamble from a place of malice.
From Slate ● May 4, 2026
The airline later acknowledged it had misjudged how many pilots it would need once the rules came into force.
From BBC ● Apr. 1, 2026
Kepa was booked before conceding the opener, when he misjudged a clearance and pulled back winger Jeremy Doku as he looked to score.
From BBC ● Mar. 22, 2026
She was candid with me about how she’d misjudged the country’s readiness to have a proactive professional woman in the role of First Lady.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
Management launched the deal anyway, misjudging how unpopular it would be with clients, then canceled the merger.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 2, 2026
“This high visibility acts as a better deterrent for people and helps prevent animals from accidentally running into the wire or misjudging a jump,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 1, 2026
By that point, Descovich has expressed regret about possibly misjudging Glaude’s civics teacher, and one candidate in this fantasy gubernatorial race knowingly has capitalized on a manufactured scandal.
From Salon ● Oct. 22, 2025
However, the production was struck by a host of difficulties, from badly misjudging the Scottish weather's suitability for filming to money running out half way through.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2024
That was how Reni had finally gone under: misjudging the speed he could leap aboard.
From "Ship Breaker" by Paolo Bacigalupi
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.
