mistrial

noun

mis·​tri·​al ˈmis-ˌtrī(-ə)l 

: a trial that has no legal effect with regard to one or more of the charges brought against the defendant because of some serious error or prejudicial misconduct in the proceedings or a hung jury

Examples of mistrial in a Sentence

The judge declared a mistrial.

Recent Examples on the Web

After the mistrial was declared, the Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office stated its intention to retry Barnett. — CBS News, 6 Nov. 2026

This summer, King’s case was taken to court and declared a mistrial when the jury could not reach a verdict after over two weeks of testimony. — Maven Navarro, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 5 Nov. 2026

In the wake of the mistrial, Reddington has made several motions seeking to prevent a retrial. — Nicki Brown, CNN Money, 2 Nov. 2026

Judge Anne Hwang declared a mistrial, and prosecutors moved to retry the defendant under a grand jury indictment that dropped one of the original charges Rinderknecht faced and modified the two remaining federal arson counts. — Reuters, NBC news, 2 Nov. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1628, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for mistrial

• dial
• rial
• thiol
• trial
• vial
• denial
• posttrial
• pretrial
• retrial
• sensorial

Kids Definition

mistrial

noun

mis·​tri·​al ˈmis-ˌtrī(-ə)l 

: a trial that is cancelled because of an error in the proceedings

Legal Definition

mistrial

noun

mis·​tri·​al ˈmis-ˌtrī-əl 

: a trial that terminates without a verdict because of error, necessity, prejudicial misconduct, or a hung jury see also manifest necessity compare dismissal sense 2, trial de novo