miscalculate

verb

mis·​cal·​cu·​late ˌmis-ˈkal-kyə-ˌlāt 

miscalculated; miscalculating

transitive + intransitive

: to calculate wrongly : to make a miscalculation

This fall, publishers badly miscalculated the public's appetite for celebrity tell-alls.

—Patrick M. Reilly

… the bosses simply weren't ready when it turned out they had miscalculated badly.

—Kevin Drum

Synonyms

• misconceive
• misdeem
• misestimate
• misgauge
• misjudge
• mismeasure
• mistake

Examples of miscalculate in a Sentence

they miscalculated how difficult the mountainous trek would be

Recent Examples on the Web

But with Russia having openly violated the Budapest Memorandum—first by annexing Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, and by launching a full-scale invasion of the country in 2022—some now question whether Kyiv miscalculated the possible cost of disarmament. —Mark Davis, Newsweek, 14 Mar. 2025

But there are also reasons to suspect Trump has miscalculated politically on a number of fronts. —The Editorial Board, Orange County Register, 23 Feb. 2025

The court of appeals upheld Chrisley, her husband Todd Chrisley and their accountant Peter Tarantino's convictions, but found the original trial judge miscalculated Julie Chrisley's sentence. —Kimi Robinson, The Courier-Journal, 26 Sep. 2024

The company and bankers dramatically miscalculated the market, overestimating the natural gas Trump bump. —Lucinda Shen, Axios, 24 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1633, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for miscalculate

• abbreviate
• accelerate
• accommodate
• accumulate
• acuminate
• adjudicate
• adulterate
• affiliate
• agglomerate
• agglutinate
• alleviate
• amalgamate

Kids Definition

miscalculate

verb

mis·​cal·​cu·​late

(ˈ)mis-ˈkal-kyə-ˌlāt

: to calculate wrongly : make a mistake in calculation

miscalculation

ˌmis-ˌkal-kyə-ˈlā-shən

noun