mismatch

1 of 2

noun

mis·​match ˈmis-ˌmach 

plural mismatches

: a faulty or unsuitable match

New England plays St. Louis in Super Bowl XXXVI this evening, and on the face of it, this game is a mismatch, a blowout waiting to happen.

—William C. Rhoden

She is blood type O, and the donor heart and lungs she received in the first operation were blood type A. That mismatch triggered rejection by her immune system.

—Dan Vergano

mismatch

2 of 2

verb

mis·​match ˌmis-ˈmach 

mismatched; mismatching

transitive verb

: to match (two people or things) wrongly or unsuitably

Let's say that you are afraid of boring your audience. One cause is mismatching the audience's need and the level of detail you provide.

—Liz Reyer

Examples of mismatch in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Besides the supply-demand mismatch between fertility doctors and potential patients, IVF is invasive and can be financially out of reach: the procedure is costly and it’s not covered through Medicaid which supports half of the reproductive people in this country. —Fiorella Valdesolo, Vogue, 20 Dec. 2024

Better supply-demand equation There are signs that the big supply-demand mismatch seen through the early phase of the generative AI wave is easing. —Trefis Team, Forbes, 20 Dec. 2024

Verb

As many as three elections workers scrutinize each ballot envelope to ensure the signature matches the voter’s registration paperwork or driver’s license, and set aside envelopes with missing or mismatched signatures. —Laura J. Nelson, Los Angeles Times, 23 Dec. 2024

Inconsistencies: Data collected from multiple sources often has mismatched formats or conflicting entries. —Max (chong) Li, Forbes, 23 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1606, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1582, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

mismatch

verb

mis·​match

(ˈ)mis-ˈmach

: to match unsuitably or badly

mismatch noun