misinterpretation

noun

mis·​in·​ter·​pre·​ta·​tion ˌmi-sᵊn-ˌtər-prə-ˈtā-shən 

-pə-

plural misinterpretations

: failure to understand or interpret something correctly

an error caused by misinterpretation of the rules

: a mistaken interpretation

… it soon becomes obvious to workers in the field that misunderstandings and misinterpretations of conventional terms seriously interfere with scholarly communication.

—Juergan Eichhoff

Synonyms of misinterpretation

• misunderstanding

Examples of misinterpretation in a Sentence

his misinterpretation of the ambiguously worded instructions was hardly his fault

Recent Examples on the Web

While some British media have previously reported that Lagerbielke is 254th in line for the Swedish throne, that appears to be a misinterpretation, according to Swedish officials and journalists with whom The Athletic spoke. — Chris Vannini, New York Times, 26 June 2026

An agent can’t reliably detect its own misinterpretations using the same model that generated them. — Stu Sjouwerman, Forbes.com, 25 June 2026

Previous measurements implied that the motion of stars in the SMC were indicative of the rotation of the dwarf galaxy, but according to these new results, that was a misinterpretation. — Keith Cooper, Space.com, 7 June 2026

That burden exists for good reason — accusations are sometimes based on misunderstanding, misinterpretation or worse, bad faith. — Kaitlyn Schallhorn, Daily News, 3 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1538, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for misinterpretation

• acclimatisation
• acclimatization
• acidification
• actualization
• annualization
• autocorrelation
• autoregulation
• beatification
• beneficiation
• biodegradation
• biotransformation
• bureaucratization