misunderstand

verb

mis·​un·​der·​stand (ˌ)mi-ˌsən-dər-ˈstand 

misunderstood (ˌ)mi-ˌsən-dər-ˈstu̇d  ; misunderstanding

transitive verb

1

: to fail to understand

2

: to interpret incorrectly

Synonyms

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

Examples of misunderstand in a Sentence

Don't misunderstand me—I'm not criticizing your decision.

He feels that the critics have completely misunderstood his movies.

She expressed herself in clear terms that no one could misunderstand.

Recent Examples on the Web

Miss why someone has a gun, misunderstand how to help Standing before a class of a dozen new gun owners in summer 2023, firearms instructor Jieire Vance ticked through slides. —John Diedrich, USA TODAY, 14 Dec. 2024

The Brazilian seemed to misunderstand Johnson’s position. —Brian Mazique, Forbes, 9 Dec. 2024

Conservative voters are wrong about crime statistics, but both sides misunderstand each other. —Jamil Zaki, TIME, 23 Nov. 2024

By strip-mining messages into bland, lifeless summaries, Apple seems to be misunderstanding what makes texting so special in the first place. —Lila Shroff, The Atlantic, 19 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

misunderstand

verb

mis·​un·​der·​stand (ˌ)mis-ˌən-dər-ˈstand 

misunderstood -ˈstu̇d  ; misunderstanding

1

: to fail to understand

2

: to interpret incorrectly