misgender

verb

mis·​gen·​der ˌmis-ˈjen-dər How to pronounce misgender (audio)
misgendered; misgendering; misgenders

transitive verb

: to identify the gender of (a person, such as a nonbinary or transgender person) incorrectly (as by using an incorrect label or pronoun)
Multiple news outlets misgendered and misidentified Patricio Manuel after he made history this weekend by becoming the first trans boxer to win a pro match.Nico Lang
I don't want to be misgendered or deadnamed at school, and the effectiveness of the current preferred name system demonstrates NYU's commitment to resolving issues that have affected trans students in the past.Washington Square News: New York University

Examples of misgender in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The claim: Canadian bill would prosecute and fine those who misgender others or engage in anti-LGBTQ protests An April 5 tweet features a video of a politician standing at a rainbow podium while announcing a new bill. Hannah Hudnall, USA TODAY, 17 Apr. 2023 Eliza tries not to wince when their parents unwittingly misgender them. Laura Newberry, Los Angeles Times, 24 Mar. 2021 Those that are reported can be difficult to track because law enforcement and the media sometimes misgender and misidentify victims by referring to them with their names given at birth, advocates say. Erin Donaghue, CBS News, 7 Oct. 2020 Fact check: No, new Canadian bill won't allow prosecution of those who misgender others USA TODAY reached out to the social media user who shared the claim for comment. Sudiksha Kochi, USA TODAY, 19 Apr. 2023 Their qualifying times came mostly from marathons in which runners had to misgender themselves because nonbinary registration was not an option. Michael Silverman, BostonGlobe.com, 14 Sep. 2022 Imagine being a teacher in a school that has banned all mention of gender identity and you are forced to misgender a student — or forced to hide books or curriculum that mention LGBTQ people or identity. Allison Hope, CNN, 31 Mar. 2023 Republican lawmakers in Kentucky advanced a bill to allow teachers to misgender their transgender students. Los Angeles Times, 10 Feb. 2023 Still others misgender them in conversation. Jacob Fulton and, BostonGlobe.com, 9 Feb. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'misgender.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1989, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of misgender was in 1989

Dictionary Entries Near misgender

Cite this Entry

“Misgender.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/misgender. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

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