mismatch

1 of 2

noun

mis·​match ˈmis-ˌmach 

plural mismatches

: a faulty or unsuitable match

New England plays St. Louis in Super Bowl XXXVI this evening, and on the face of it, this game is a mismatch, a blowout waiting to happen.

—William C. Rhoden

She is blood type O, and the donor heart and lungs she received in the first operation were blood type A. That mismatch triggered rejection by her immune system.

—Dan Vergano

mismatch

2 of 2

verb

mis·​match ˌmis-ˈmach 

mismatched; mismatching

transitive verb

: to match (two people or things) wrongly or unsuitably

Let's say that you are afraid of boring your audience. One cause is mismatching the audience's need and the level of detail you provide.

—Liz Reyer

Examples of mismatch in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Instead of treating the mismatch as resistance, notice what each person is protecting. — Tarot.com, The Orlando Sentinel, 23 Sep. 2026

Naturalized citizens, married women with name changes, and older voters whose documents may have been lost must not get caught up in database mismatches. — Peggy Gossett-Seidman, Sun Sentinel, 23 Sep. 2026

Verb

Detailing doesn’t stop there, though, as the Swoosh, mustache and additional branding are mismatched across each pair. — Ian Servantes, Footwear News, 25 Sep. 2026

Match the setup to the actual disruption, whether that’s snoring, temperature clash, mismatched schedules or none of the above, and ignore the urge to simply go with what’s trendy this month. — Lauren Schuster, Sacbee.com, 18 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1606, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1582, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for mismatch

• attach
• bycatch
• despatch
• detach
• dispatch
• nuthatch
• potlatch
• bache
• batch
• brach
• catch
• hatch

Kids Definition

mismatch

verb

mis·​match

(ˈ)mis-ˈmach

: to match unsuitably or badly

mismatch noun