misinterpret

verb

mis·​in·​ter·​pret ˌmi-sᵊn-ˈtər-prət 

-pət

misinterpreted; misinterpreting; misinterprets

transitive verb

1

: to explain wrongly

His comment on the speech misinterprets the speaker's meaning.

2

: to understand wrongly

Her silence should not be misinterpreted as consent.

Synonyms

• bend
• color
• cook
• distort
• falsify
• fudge
• garble
• misrelate
• misrepresent
• misstate
• pervert
• slant
• twist
• warp

Examples of misinterpret in a Sentence

He claims that his statements have been misinterpreted by the media.

Her silence should not be misinterpreted as consent.

Recent Examples on the Web

Harmon says the board is misinterpreting the statute and has appealed. —The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 11 June 2025

The actor has repeatedly denied both accounts saying his actions were misinterpreted. —Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 13 May 2025

Why should parents care about schools misinterpreting FERPA? —Holly Yan, CNN Money, 10 May 2025

Across multiple tests, agentic AI assistants introduced inconsistencies in execution over 80% of the time, often misinterpreting requests, generating conflicting responses, or failing to follow business logic. —Alan Nichol, Forbes.com, 6 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1547, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for misinterpret

• reinterpret
• interpret

Kids Definition

misinterpret

verb

mis·​in·​ter·​pret ˌmis-ᵊn-ˈtər-prət 

-pət

: to understand or explain wrongly

misinterpretation

-ˌtər-prə-ˈtā-shən 

-pə-ˈtā-

noun