misinterpret
verb
mis·in·ter·pret
ˌmi-sᵊn-ˈtər-prət 
-pət
misinterpreted; misinterpreting; misinterprets
1
: to explain wrongly
His comment on the speech misinterprets the speaker's meaning.
2
: to understand wrongly
Their silence should not be misinterpreted as consent.
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
With multimodal input from different sensing techniques, such as vision, touch, and joint position awareness, the robot is less likely to misinterpret complex situations.
—
Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 3 Mar. 2026
One reason is that your words could come across differently depending on the person reading the message, so stick to using short sentences to avoid being misinterpreted.
—ABC News, 26 Feb. 2026
The administration misinterprets a Nixon-era law in its bid to reimpose tariffs struck down by the Supreme Court.
—Editorial Board, Washington Post, 24 Feb. 2026
The phrase began as a chant at a 2021 NASCAR race, where a reporter misinterpreted both the verb and the name addressed to Biden.
—Bart Jansen, USA Today, 22 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for misinterpret
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 3 Mar. 2026
One reason is that your words could come across differently depending on the person reading the message, so stick to using short sentences to avoid being misinterpreted.
—ABC News, 26 Feb. 2026
The administration misinterprets a Nixon-era law in its bid to reimpose tariffs struck down by the Supreme Court.
—Editorial Board, Washington Post, 24 Feb. 2026
The phrase began as a chant at a 2021 NASCAR race, where a reporter misinterpreted both the verb and the name addressed to Biden.
—Bart Jansen, USA Today, 22 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for misinterpret
Cite this Entry
“Misinterpret.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/misinterpret. Accessed 11 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
