misjudge

verb

mis·​judge ˌmis-ˈjəj How to pronounce misjudge (audio)
misjudged; misjudging; misjudges

intransitive verb

: to be mistaken in judgment

transitive verb

1
: to estimate wrongly
2
: to have an unjust opinion of
misjudgment noun

Examples of misjudge in a Sentence

I can see that I've completely misjudged you. I apologize. The outfielder misjudged the fly ball and it went over his head. The pilot misjudged the landing.
Recent Examples on the Web When asked why Fox so plainly misjudged its legal case, Stelter is somewhat puzzled, attributing it, at least initially, to hubris. Paolo Confino, Fortune, 15 Nov. 2023 With more than 30 Americans dead and 10 missing, mounting fears of a regional war, and billions of dollars in U.S. military hardware headed to the Middle East since Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, some officials say the U.S. misjudged the threat to U.S. national security. WSJ, 1 Nov. 2023 Israeli officials misjudged the threat posed by Hamas for years, and more critically in the run-up to the attack. Maria Abi-Habib, New York Times, 29 Oct. 2023 Hamas is not the only entity that intelligence officials could have misjudged. Amy Zegart, Foreign Affairs, 11 Oct. 2023 The Oscar winner posted a slideshow of black and white photos from her youth, accompanied by the ballad in which Cyrus, 30, reflects on how she was misjudged in her past and sees her own experiences from a new perspective. Sadie Bell, Peoplemag, 25 Aug. 2023 These events served as a sobering revelation: Putin had misjudged Prigozhin and his outrage, underestimating the danger posed by the voluble and volatile caterer turned mercenary commander. Tatiana Stanovaya, Foreign Affairs, 8 Aug. 2023 In the final scene, Roman, having botched his shot at chief executive by having a breakdown at Logan’s funeral and misjudging Mencken’s loyalty, wanders outside, where a throng of demonstrators are coming up the street. James Poniewozik, New York Times, 26 May 2023 Amazon firmly rejected this claim, implying that the union misjudged how many people work at the warehouse. Eshe Nelson, New York Times, 14 June 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'misjudge.' 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

15th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of misjudge was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near misjudge

Cite this Entry

“Misjudge.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/misjudge. Accessed 9 Dec. 2023.

Kids Definition

misjudge

verb
mis·​judge (ˈ)mis-ˈjəj How to pronounce misjudge (audio)
: to judge wrongly or unfairly
misjudgment noun

More from Merriam-Webster on misjudge

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