misunderstood

adjective

mis·​un·​der·​stood (ˌ)mi-ˌsən-dər-ˈstu̇d 

1

: wrongly or imperfectly understood

a misunderstood question

Mondegreens are misunderstood lyrics, and when we asked our readers for their favorites, not surprisingly the most familiar ones got multiple votes.

—Dave Tianen

2

: not sympathetically appreciated

[Shorty] Rossi has become a name in the animal rescue community for his fierce advocacy for the interests of the pit bull, which he sees as a misunderstood breed.

—Publishers Weekly

He speaks proudly and protectively of his two directing efforts as if they were beloved but misunderstood children, and he's touchingly eager to explain their unappreciated virtues.

—Ron Rosenbaum

Examples of misunderstood in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Where Organizations Misread The Model However, this is where, in my experience, the model is often misunderstood. —Henrik Totterman, Forbes.com, 24 May 2026

Atlantic City has always felt to me like America’s most misunderstood resort city. —Jessica Chapel, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 May 2026

His latest obsession — aired out in part in Red Sheet, his 18th novel, out June 9 — is the Blacklist, which in Ellroy’s estimation was a greatly misunderstood act of flag-waving righteousness that Hollywood has been scandalously misrepresenting ever since. —Seth Abramovitch, HollywoodReporter, 20 May 2026

This rejection, for those on the receiving end of it, is misunderstood as a messaging problem—one that Trae Stephens recently proposed to solve by buying Wired. —Jonathan Weber, Fortune, 19 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1583, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for misunderstood

• unlikelihood
• adulthood
• babyhood
• brotherhood
• cottonwood
• fatherhood
• firewood
• fuelwood
• hardihood
• ironwood
• leatherwood
• likelihood