misdiagnose

verb

mis·​di·​ag·​nose ˌmis-ˈdī-ig-ˌnōs 

-ˌnōz, 

ˌdī-ig-ˈnōs, 

-ˈnōz, 

-əg-

misdiagnosed; misdiagnosing

transitive verb

: to diagnose (someone or something) incorrectly

… babesiosis is often missed or misdiagnosed as malaria or flu.

—Linda Marsa

The researchers added that children with this disease are often misdiagnosed and thus inappropriately treated …

—Jane E. Brody

Examples of misdiagnose in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

When Larkin landed in the hospital during his plight, the rare nature of the virus led to him initially being misdiagnosed with Lyme disease. — Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA Today, 31 July 2026

When failure follows, it's almost always misdiagnosed as a technology problem. — Susana Cabrera, Forbes.com, 29 July 2026

First, there was the wrist pain, which was originally misdiagnosed as carpal tunnel and other joint pain to injuries from an accident years earlier. — Emily Cegielski, Flow Space, 29 July 2026

Sometimes the allergy doesn’t appear until days or weeks after the initial tick bite, which is why alpha-gal is often misdiagnosed as food poisoning. — Andy Lewis, HollywoodReporter, 25 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1883, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for misdiagnose

• agarose
• aliquots
• amigos
• anthracnose
• bottlenose
• buffaloes
• bungalows
• calicoes
• cameos
• commandos
• conversos
• decompose

Medical Definition

misdiagnose

transitive verb

mis·​di·​ag·​nose (ˈ)mis-ˈdī-ig-ˌnōs, -ˌnōz 

misdiagnosed; misdiagnosing

: to diagnose incorrectly