misapprehend
verb
mis·ap·pre·hend
(ˌ)mis-ˌa-pri-ˈhend 
misapprehended; misapprehending; misapprehends
: to apprehend wrongly : misunderstand
Examples of misapprehend in a Sentence
unfortunately, the message that the artist was trying to convey has been misapprehended by many museum patrons
Recent Examples on the Web
But would her students, turned on everywhere by the dogma of political correctness, misapprehend Haynes’s aim?
—
Doreen St. Félix, The New Yorker, 22 June 2023
Some people misapprehend it and think of as imitation.
—New York Times, 17 Nov. 2021
But to call him a ‘man of the Right’ is to misapprehend his own words and actions.
—John Hirschauer, National Review, 25 Feb. 2020
Traditionally, that's led to things like snakes on stage and misapprehended awards speeches.
—Leah Prinzivalli, Allure, 20 Aug. 2018
Yet by the same logic, giving Washington and Jefferson a pass for being slaveholders misapprehends a moral problem embedded in our nation at its conception.
—Ron Grossman, chicagotribune.com, 25 Aug. 2017
This isn’t just shooting your mouth off on the stump—this is the nation’s top lawyer completely misapprehending what judges do and what states are.
—Dahlia Lithwick, Slate Magazine, 20 Apr. 2017
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Doreen St. Félix, The New Yorker, 22 June 2023
Some people misapprehend it and think of as imitation.
—New York Times, 17 Nov. 2021
But to call him a ‘man of the Right’ is to misapprehend his own words and actions.
—John Hirschauer, National Review, 25 Feb. 2020
Traditionally, that's led to things like snakes on stage and misapprehended awards speeches.
—Leah Prinzivalli, Allure, 20 Aug. 2018
Yet by the same logic, giving Washington and Jefferson a pass for being slaveholders misapprehends a moral problem embedded in our nation at its conception.
—Ron Grossman, chicagotribune.com, 25 Aug. 2017
This isn’t just shooting your mouth off on the stump—this is the nation’s top lawyer completely misapprehending what judges do and what states are.
—Dahlia Lithwick, Slate Magazine, 20 Apr. 2017
Cite this Entry
“Misapprehend.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/misapprehend. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
misapprehend
verb
mis·ap·pre·hend
(ˌ)mis-ˌap-ri-ˈhend
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share