mismatch

1 of 2

noun

mis·​match ˈmis-ˌmach 

plural mismatches

: a faulty or unsuitable match

New England plays St. Louis in Super Bowl XXXVI this evening, and on the face of it, this game is a mismatch, a blowout waiting to happen.

—William C. Rhoden

She is blood type O, and the donor heart and lungs she received in the first operation were blood type A. That mismatch triggered rejection by her immune system.

—Dan Vergano

mismatch

2 of 2

verb

mis·​match ˌmis-ˈmach 

mismatched; mismatching

transitive verb

: to match (two people or things) wrongly or unsuitably

Let's say that you are afraid of boring your audience. One cause is mismatching the audience's need and the level of detail you provide.

—Liz Reyer

Examples of mismatch in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Part of that is due to a huge mismatch between people’s hopes and reality, with that chasm growing bigger than ever. —Jason Ma, Fortune, 8 Nov. 2025

This stiffness mismatch causes irritation, tissue damage, and eventual device failure. —Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 6 Nov. 2025

Verb

Step onto the porch in an oversize T-shirt that hangs down to my knees and mismatched socks that come halfway up my calves. —Bailey Richards, PEOPLE, 30 Oct. 2025

But with so much user engagement on TV screens, the mobile focus of the first batch of games appears to have been mismatched with the rest of the product. —Alex Weprin, HollywoodReporter, 24 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1606, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1582, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for mismatch

• attach
• bycatch
• despatch
• detach
• dispatch
• nuthatch
• potlatch
• toothache
• bache
• batch
• brach
• catch

Kids Definition

mismatch

verb

mis·​match

(ˈ)mis-ˈmach

: to match unsuitably or badly

mismatch noun