miscalculate
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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miscalculates,
present (3rd person singular)
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miscalculated,
past participle, past
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miscalculating
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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miscalculatesimple
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miscalculatessimple
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have miscalculatedperfect
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has miscalculatedperfect
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am miscalculatingprogressive
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are miscalculatingprogressive
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is miscalculatingprogressive
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have been miscalculatingperfect progressive
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has been miscalculatingperfect progressive
Past
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miscalculatedsimple
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had miscalculatedperfect
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was miscalculatingprogressive
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were miscalculatingprogressive
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had been miscalculatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of miscalculate
Explanation
If you add two plus two and get five, you miscalculate. In other words, you've added the numbers incorrectly. You can use the verb miscalculate when you're talking about actual mathematical calculations, or when you measure something in an inexact way and get it wrong. Another way to use the word is to mean "judge incorrectly," which happens when you guess that your grandmother will laugh after sitting on a whoopie cushion, but you guess wrong. Mis, in this word, means "bad or wrong," and calculate means "to compute or estimate."
Vocabulary lists containing miscalculate
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UCPS 6th Grade Roots List #3
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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:
But there are a lot of people looking over their shoulder, going, “Wait, did we miscalculate? Are we on the wrong side of things?”
From Slate ● May 30, 2025
Because of negativity bias, we miscalculate the upsides and downsides of social life.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2024
Every time any actor decides to roll the iron dice of war, there is a significant chance that they are going to miscalculate.
From Salon ● Apr. 17, 2024
The four-star commander said he is concerned North Korean leaders will miscalculate or mistakenly believe that the escalation of a conflict can be controlled.
From Washington Times ● Apr. 19, 2023
I ain’t partial to swords—the time on the reverse is too long if you miscalculate your swing—but it’s better than a couple of rusty gardening blades.
From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland
But if it miscalculates and raises rates too high or too fast, history suggests it could trigger a recession.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 18, 2018
OnePlus has scaled back the background-blurring effect, which helps to hide the errors when the camera miscalculates whether to blur or keep something in focus.
From The Verge ● Nov. 20, 2017
He goes over his tallies, in case he miscalculated, but he never miscalculates.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 13, 2016
Even when the team indisputably miscalculates, as when the Spurs signed Richard Jefferson to a high-dollar multiyear deal, the situation is dealt with quietly and efficiently.
From Slate ● May 29, 2012
If, accordingly, he miscalculates, he cannot save himself from serious loss as a smaller man might do by a prompt discovery of his error.
From Supply and Demand by Hubert D. Henderson
Umanksy points to Measure ULA, the voter-approved tax widely referred to as the “mansion tax,” as an example of miscalculated promised outcomes.
From MarketWatch ● May 22, 2026
But regardless of the intention, Fairhope miscalculated in prosecuting Gamble.
From Slate ● May 4, 2026
Drake was due to play in Amsterdam two days after the final Manchester show, but his team had miscalculated the time it would take to ship the stage across the North Sea.
From BBC ● Mar. 13, 2026
Diplomats and analysts say Tehran miscalculated with its attacks on Dubai, Doha and Bahrain.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 1, 2026
In many ways, we had miscalculated; we had thought that by the 1970s we would be living in a democratic, nonracial South Africa.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
Plus, President Trump says Iran is miscalculating his urgency to end the war, and the administration’s new bank accounts for children goes live.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026
But it is possible that they could be miscalculating, and they end up the ones who back away from the void.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2025
Ford was accused of misleading the EPA by intentionally miscalculating factors used in certification testing.
From Reuters ● Apr. 21, 2023
News and World Report college rankings, after admitting to miscalculating data in its submissions to the ratings.
From New York Times ● Sep. 13, 2022
Once George Dally, miscalculating the depth of a savage little stream, stepped boldly in and was swept away like a flash of light.
From The Settler and the Savage by R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne
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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.
