misbegotten

adjective

mis·be·got·ten ˌmis-bi-ˈgä-tᵊn

Synonyms of misbegotten next

dated : unlawfully conceived : born to parents not married to each other

a misbegotten child

: having a disreputable or improper origin : ill-conceived

antiquated and misbegotten tax laws—

R. M. Blough

: contemptible

a misbegotten scoundrel

: deformed

The road brought you to a desert place among ruins, where was a door in a hillside, and hard by the door a misbegotten pine.—

Robert Louis Stevenson

Did you know?

In the beginning, there was begietan, and begietan begot beyeten; then in the days of Middle English beyeten begot begeten. All of the Old English and Middle English ancestors above basically meant the same thing as the modern beget—that is, "to father" or "to produce as an effect or outgrowth." That linguistic line, combined with the prefix mis- (meaning "wrongly" or "badly"), brought forth misbegotten. While the word has carried several meanings over the centuries, including "contemptible" (as in "a misbegotten scoundrel"), today it most often describes things—such as beliefs, projects, or adventures—that are poorly planned or thought out.

Examples of misbegotten in a Sentence

a misbegotten child who never knew his father

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

The dessert for this feast of misbegotten nominations was served when Trump appointed Kimberly Guilfoyle, the longtime fiancée of his eldest son, Don, Jr., as the new Ambassador to Greece—a move that accommodates the son’s fresher affections for a Palm Beach socialite. —

David Remnick, The New Yorker, 12 Jan. 2025 It’s been a long, bumpy ride for Marvel’s first family, which is finally joining the MCU after three prior misbegotten cinematic iterations of the team. —

A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 6 Jan. 2025 The substance that makes beer and wine and vodka and whisky so popular has been legal throughout American history with the brief, misbegotten exception of 1920-1933. —

New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 14 Dec. 2024 Studios bet on theaters After the misbegotten straight-to-streaming experiments of the pandemic era, studios have for the most part bought into the viability of movie theaters again. —

Ryan Faughnder, Los Angeles Times, 17 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for misbegotten