misperception

noun

mis·​per·​cep·​tion ˌmis-pər-ˈsēp-shən 

plural misperceptions

: a false or inaccurate perception

… a host of misperceptions about the '50s, including the skewed notion that women didn't work in the 1950s, especially if they were mothers. Even in the '50s, one-fifth of mothers had paying jobs.

—Jeff Reid

Examples of misperception in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

There’s a common misperception that a 529 plan is an investment, but the plans usually have several options from which to select. —Brian Boswell, Forbes, 12 Mar. 2025

This misperception is exacerbated by the fact that only a fraction of posts with false or unverified information are checked and marked as such. —Gordon G. Chang, Newsweek, 1 Nov. 2024

Local communities are more likely to trust and accept these organizations, mitigating the potential for local-level conflict to break out as a result of mistrust or misperception. —Jesse Marks, Foreign Affairs, 11 Feb. 2025

But its release was shadowed by the misperception that the filmmakers had contrived the Altamont spectacle. —Michael Schulman, The New Yorker, 20 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1722, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for misperception

• apperception
• contraception
• interception
• misconception
• preconception
• conception
• deception
• exception
• inception
• perception
• reception
• intussusception

Medical Definition

misperception

noun

mis·​per·​cep·​tion ˌmis-pər-ˈsep-shən 

: a false perception