as in to misstate
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
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.
Recent Examples of misspeak
However, today, the bigger risk is not misspeaking.
—
Cheryl Robinson, Forbes.com, 12 Feb. 2026
The health secretary also appeared to misspeak at the meeting, saying two people had died of the disease.
—Devi Shastri and Amanda Seitz The Associated Press, arkansasonline.com, 27 Feb. 2025
Kennedy also seemed to misspeak in saying two people had died of measles.
—Amanda Seitz, Chicago Tribune, 26 Feb. 2025
These leaders don’t merely lie or misspeak or make light of life and death.
—Megan Garber, The Atlantic, 23 Oct. 2024
Walz was criticized following the Oct. 1 debate for flubbing an answer about allegedly misspeaking about being in Hong Kong during the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
—Joey Nolfi, EW.com, 21 Oct. 2024
The Kremlin’s propaganda often uses instances of Biden misspeaking as proof of his ineptitude as the man in charge of Ukraine’s top military backer.
—Yuliya Talmazan, NBC News, 12 July 2024
Elsewhere, Claude and Angot’s mother, who had Christine out of wedlock and fought to get her father to recognize his child in a legal sense, are both similarly upbraided for misspeaking about Christine’s trauma in subtle ways, or for not being sympathetic in the right way.
—Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 Feb. 2024
Cheryl Robinson, Forbes.com, 12 Feb. 2026
The health secretary also appeared to misspeak at the meeting, saying two people had died of the disease.
—Devi Shastri and Amanda Seitz The Associated Press, arkansasonline.com, 27 Feb. 2025
Kennedy also seemed to misspeak in saying two people had died of measles.
—Amanda Seitz, Chicago Tribune, 26 Feb. 2025
These leaders don’t merely lie or misspeak or make light of life and death.
—Megan Garber, The Atlantic, 23 Oct. 2024
Walz was criticized following the Oct. 1 debate for flubbing an answer about allegedly misspeaking about being in Hong Kong during the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
—Joey Nolfi, EW.com, 21 Oct. 2024
The Kremlin’s propaganda often uses instances of Biden misspeaking as proof of his ineptitude as the man in charge of Ukraine’s top military backer.
—Yuliya Talmazan, NBC News, 12 July 2024
Elsewhere, Claude and Angot’s mother, who had Christine out of wedlock and fought to get her father to recognize his child in a legal sense, are both similarly upbraided for misspeaking about Christine’s trauma in subtle ways, or for not being sympathetic in the right way.
—Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 Feb. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for misspeak
Verb
-
This story has been updated to remove a sentence about the Institute of Museum and Library Services’ current budget, which misstated its value and size relative to recent years.—
ProPublica,
ProPublica,
24 Mar. 2026
-
An earlier version of this story misstated which organization launched the field trip program.—
Miriam Fauzia,
Dallas Morning News,
18 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The economist argues the market is misinterpreting how the Fed will react to the current energy shock.—
Jake Angelo,
Fortune,
19 Mar. 2026
-
Although uncommon, some public figures and health professionals have claimed that the vaccines could cause cancer despite ample contradictory evidence, often by misinterpreting or misrepresenting studies.—
Dannell D. Boatman,
The Conversation,
17 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Under the settlement, Match and OkCupid must stop misrepresenting their data practices and privacy controls, but no financial penalties were imposed.—
Jeremy Kahn,
Fortune,
31 Mar. 2026
-
Following the revelation that Immigration and Customs Enforcement misrepresented its authority to arrest people in immigration court, Congressman Dan Goldman Friday demanded ICE and the Department of Homeland Security provide a full accounting of everyone swept up by the aggressive practice.—
Molly Crane-Newman,
New York Daily News,
27 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Objects were frequently distorted or missing key components.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
1 Apr. 2026
-
Their shapes often distort as one galaxy exerts tidal forces on the other.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
30 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
In announcing them, Trump grew so loud that the audio feed spiked in a way that left his words garbled.—
Philip Elliott,
Time,
25 Feb. 2026
-
The Limits of Expansion Since mathematicians began studying expander graphs in the 1960s, they’ve been used to model the brain (opens a new tab), perform statistical analyses, and build error-correcting codes — encrypted messages that can be read even if they get garbled in transmission.—
Leila Sloman,
Quanta Magazine,
18 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
An inspection of the commercial vehicle's records showed that the electronic logging records were falsified, police said.—
Paula Wethington,
CBS News,
30 Mar. 2026
-
Sophia’s grandmother later sued Alameda County in April 2023, claiming the agency failed time and again to protect the child, breaking more than a dozen state child welfare regulations and later falsifying records to cover their tracks.—
Jakob Rodgers,
Mercury News,
26 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
When the oil is shimmering, add the pork chops and cook until well browned, 2 to 4 minutes per side.—
Kate Williams,
AJC.com,
30 Mar. 2026
-
British live-fire cook Genevieve Taylor didn’t start out romanticizing cooking over an open flame, with visions of industry cred or Michelin stars dancing in her head.—
Brock Keeling,
Oc Register,
30 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Nor have the Trumps dissembled about Amazon’s payment of forty million dollars for the rights to the film—more than twice as much as the second-highest bid—with twenty-eight million reportedly flowing directly to the First Lady.—
David D. Kirkpatrick,
New Yorker,
8 Feb. 2026
-
With his multi-instrumentalist bandmates, PJ Moore and co-songwriter Robert Bell, Buchanan zooms into these exchanges to prolong them or dissembles them into jagged pieces that leave the bigger picture to us.—
Sam Sodomsky,
Pitchfork,
1 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Misspeak.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/misspeak. Accessed 3 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
