misinterpret

1 to change so much as to create a wrong impression or alter the meaning of <his note on this passage in the novel seriously misinterprets the author's meaning> Synonyms bend, color, cook, distort, falsify, fudge, garble, misrelate, misrepresent, misstate, pervert, slant, twist, warpRelated Words misdescribe, misspeak, mistranslate; belie, camouflage, disguise, dissemble, gloss (over), mask, veil, whitewash; bowdlerize, censor; complicate, confound, confuse, mistake, mix (up); mystify, obscure; equivocate, fib, lie, palter, prevaricateNear Antonyms clarify, clear (up), explain, illuminate, illustrate, interpret, spell out; decipher

2 to fail to understand the true or actual meaning of <we misinterpreted the directions and ended up on the wrong side of town> Synonyms misapprehend, misconstrue, misunderstand, misknow, misperceive, misread, miss, mistakeRelated Words misconceive, misdeem, misjudge; mishearAntonyms appreciate, apprehend, catch, comprehend, conceive, fathom, get, grasp, grok, know, make out, penetrate, perceive, savvy, see, seize, take in, understand