misconception
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of misconception
First recorded in 1655–65; mis- 1 + conception
Explanation
A misconception is a conclusion that's wrong because it's based on faulty thinking or facts that are wrong. Your accusation about your brother's role in that unfortunate event at your party may be based on a misconception. First appearing in the 1660s, the noun misconception comes from the prefix mis-, meaning "bad, wrong," and the word conception, meaning "act of conceiving." A misconception usually results from incorrect thinking or a flawed understanding. Because they don't know the facts, many people have a misconception about how diseases such as AIDS are transmitted. It's a common misconception that Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, when, in fact, he didn't.
Vocabulary lists containing misconception
Power Prefix: mis-
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Eats, Shoots & Leaves
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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:
Secondly, there has been a misconception about fructose in general being harmful for cardiovascular health regardless of the source, and that fruit juices are beneficial for health.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 23, 2026
Sam DeCaro, director of clinical outreach and education at the Renfrew Center, described a common misconception: that undereating is fine for people who are not considered underweight.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
It’s a common misconception that the federal government regulates the dates on food.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026
She says there is a misconception that skin cancer only happens to people who use sunbeds or sunbathe.
From BBC ● May 21, 2026
I knew what it was to have a misconception corrected—a misconception of such magnitude that shifting it shifted the world.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
Our misconceptions and stereotypes about men and women at work shape our reality—and could reshape it, if only we would accept the hard facts and work to change them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
Some early misconceptions are still reflected in the exhibits.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2026
It has taken 20 years for the misconceptions about the increased risks of HRT to be corrected — and for the FDA to partially lift the black-box warning on some estrogen products.
From MarketWatch ● May 12, 2026
Such regional divides dispel one of the biggest misconceptions internationally that Italian food is "just pizza and pasta," he says.
From BBC ● May 9, 2026
People who think they are Native American but but have not grown up in a Native community may lack tribally specific knowledge and are vulnerable to stereotypes and other misconceptions about being Native.
From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
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.
