miscalculate

verb

mis·​cal·​cu·​late ˌmis-ˈkal-kyə-ˌlāt 

miscalculated; miscalculating

transitive + intransitive

: to calculate wrongly : to make a miscalculation

This fall, publishers badly miscalculated the public's appetite for celebrity tell-alls.

—Patrick M. Reilly

… the bosses simply weren't ready when it turned out they had miscalculated badly.

—Kevin Drum

Synonyms

• misconceive
• misdeem
• misestimate
• misgauge
• misjudge
• mismeasure
• mistake

Examples of miscalculate in a Sentence

they miscalculated how difficult the mountainous trek would be

Recent Examples on the Web

The appellate court ruled Selna miscalculated some of those losses at the original sentencing hearing. —Lee Ross, FOXNews.com, 7 May 2025

Thousands of orders that used to auto-flow directly to the warehouse floor for same-day shipping now often miscalculate tariff costs. —Alina Selyukh, NPR, 24 Apr. 2025

Taiwan miscalculated, leaning too hard into economic appeasement and disastrous diplomatic outreach. —Wesley Alexander Hill, Forbes.com, 11 Apr. 2025

Gage also miscalculated on the matter of disarming the colonists. —David Faris, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1633, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for miscalculate

• abbreviate
• accelerate
• accommodate
• accumulate
• acuminate
• adjudicate
• adulterate
• affiliate
• agglomerate
• agglutinate
• alleviate
• amalgamate

Kids Definition

miscalculate

verb

mis·​cal·​cu·​late

(ˈ)mis-ˈkal-kyə-ˌlāt

: to calculate wrongly : make a mistake in calculation

miscalculation

ˌmis-ˌkal-kyə-ˈlā-shən

noun