misbegotten

adjective

mis·​be·​got·​ten ˌmis-bi-ˈgä-tᵊn 

1

dated : unlawfully conceived : born to parents not married to each other

a misbegotten child

2

a

: having a disreputable or improper origin : ill-conceived

… antiquated and misbegotten tax laws …

—R. M. Blough

b

: contemptible

a misbegotten scoundrel

c

: deformed

The road brought you to a desert place among ruins, where was a door in a hillside, and hard by the door a misbegotten pine.

—Robert Louis Stevenson

Did you know?

In the beginning, there was begietan, and begietan begot beyeten; then in the days of Middle English beyeten begot begeten. All of the Old English and Middle English ancestors above basically meant the same thing as the modern beget—that is, "to father" or "to produce as an effect or outgrowth." That linguistic line, combined with the prefix mis- (meaning "wrongly" or "badly"), brought forth misbegotten. While the word has carried several meanings over the centuries, including "contemptible" (as in "a misbegotten scoundrel"), today it most often describes things—such as beliefs, projects, or adventures—that are poorly planned or thought out.

Synonyms of misbegotten

• illegitimate

Examples of misbegotten in a Sentence

a misbegotten child who never knew his father

Recent Examples on the Web

Into this narrow social wedge was born a boy, child of a passionate but misbegotten moment. —Gail Sheehy, Vanity Fair, 20 Feb. 2026

In the case of the misbegotten At the Sea, Amy Adams stars as Laura, a wife, mother and daughter who sees all of those parts of her life collide into self-destruction after a drunk-driving accident with her son Felix (Redding Munsell) in the car. —Pete Hammond, Deadline, 16 Feb. 2026

Congress might then prohibit spending funds on such a misbegotten operation. —Kevin Carroll, Washington Post, 14 Jan. 2026

Cooper starred in Crowe’s Aloha, one of the director’s later and more misbegotten films. —David Sims, The Atlantic, 9 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1546, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for misbegotten

• antiproton
• begotten
• forgotten
• guncotton
• gotten
• rotten

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Kids Definition

misbegotten

adjective

mis·​be·​got·​ten ˌmis-bi-ˈgät-ᵊn 

1

: born to parents not married to each other

—used especially in the past

2

: wrongfully or improperly created