misread

verb

mis·​read ˌmis-ˈrēd 

misread ˌmis-ˈred  ; misreading ˌmis-ˈrē-diŋ 

transitive verb

1

: to read incorrectly

2

: to misinterpret in or as if in reading

totally misread the lesson of history

—Christopher Hollis

Synonyms

• misapprehend
• misconstrue
• misinterpret
• misknow
• misperceive
• miss
• mistake
• misunderstand

Examples of misread in a Sentence

I guess I misread the instructions.

They have misread the lessons of the past.

Politicians may have misread the mood of the public.

I badly misread the situation.

Recent Examples on the Web

If the foundry sits buried beneath Intel’s bloated structure, the market will continue to misread its upside. —Jim Osman, Forbes.com, 21 June 2025

For example, time was misread as tme, good was misread as goo, and large was misread as lar. —PC Magazine, 11 June 2025

More to Explore The Existentialism of Style vs. Substance Matthew Wills September 10, 2023 Camus, Sartre, and Beauvoir were misread, misunderstood, and misperceived by English-speaking readers due to interventions of publishers and editors. —Livia Gershon, JSTOR Daily, 1 June 2025

In lower-resource languages, models often misread tone or intent. —Alessa Cross, Forbes.com, 11 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1658, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for misread

• accede
• agreed
• airspeed
• alkyd
• bindweed
• chickweed
• concede
• decreed
• duckweed
• exceed
• flaxseed
• impede

Kids Definition

misread

verb

mis·​read (ˈ)mis-ˈrēd 

misread -ˈred  ; misreading -ˈrēd-iŋ 

1

: to read incorrectly

2

: to misinterpret in or as if in reading