misalign

verb

mis·​align ˌmis-ə-ˈlīn 

misaligned; misaligning

transitive + intransitive

: to align badly or incorrectly

… the rear coach loosened an axle crossing a rough switch frog, misaligning the wheels so that they came off the track and bumped along the ties …

—Terry Pindell

Even minor movement can cause the cords in the wireless charger to misalign and the charging to stop.

—Rishabh Jain

misaligned

ˌmis-ə-ˈlīnd 

adjective

… the lack of stereopsis results from conflicting input reaching the brain from the two misaligned eyes …

—Susan R. Barry

Worn wheels, defective axles, … and misaligned rails, as well as human error, also cause derailments.

—Ralph Vartabedian

Examples of misalign in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The outline of the jaw jitters faintly—two layers are ever so slightly misaligned. —Deni Ellis Béchard, Scientific American, 24 Jan. 2026

In many regions, traditional pathways to financial education are costly, difficult to access, or misaligned with the realities of modern work. —CBS News, 22 Jan. 2026

Proxy advisory tools are increasingly misaligned with the realities of the modern economy. —Shane Goodwin, Fortune, 8 Jan. 2026

When goals are unclear, data are incomplete, incentives are misaligned, or consequences are irreversible, deliberate thinking remains the only reliable hedge against confident stupidity. —Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, Forbes.com, 7 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1908, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for misalign

• acridine
• alkaline
• andesine
• anodyne
• anticline
• arginine
• asinine
• atropine
• benzidine
• borderline
• byzantine
• calamine