misunderstand
verb
mis·un·der·stand
(ˌ)mi-ˌsən-dər-ˈstand 
misunderstood
(ˌ)mi-ˌsən-dər-ˈstu̇d
; misunderstanding
; misunderstanding
Synonyms
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
With the help of the project’s now more than 200,000 recordings, a sample speech recognition tool created by the researchers misunderstands speech only 12% of the time, down from 20% prior to being trained on the new dataset.
—
Clare Duffy, CNN, 8 July 2024
Rossi adds social media and filters can also make people forget or misunderstand what a natural human being looks like.
—Charles Trepany, USA TODAY, 2 July 2024
These assistants regularly misunderstand, mishear, and sometimes just don’t listen at all.
—Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, The Verge, 14 June 2024
Or, perhaps the better question is: Is that even possible if the owners of these technologies fundamentally misunderstand why people make and enjoy art?
—Rebecca Jennings, Vox, 23 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for misunderstand 
Clare Duffy, CNN, 8 July 2024
Rossi adds social media and filters can also make people forget or misunderstand what a natural human being looks like.
—Charles Trepany, USA TODAY, 2 July 2024
These assistants regularly misunderstand, mishear, and sometimes just don’t listen at all.
—Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, The Verge, 14 June 2024
Or, perhaps the better question is: Is that even possible if the owners of these technologies fundamentally misunderstand why people make and enjoy art?
—Rebecca Jennings, Vox, 23 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for misunderstand
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'misunderstand.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Misunderstand.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/misunderstand. Accessed 15 Jul. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
misunderstand
verb
mis·un·der·stand
(ˌ)mis-ˌən-dər-ˈstand
misunderstood
-ˈstu̇d
; misunderstanding
; misunderstanding
1
: to fail to understand
2
: to interpret incorrectly
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