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

The core issue is a volume mismatch. —Allison Palmer june 2, Sacbee.com, 2 June 2026

The mismatch is widening, not because the institutions are getting slower, but because the environment is getting faster, and the architectures of governance were not designed to revise themselves at this pace. —Dr. Aditya Vikram Kashyap, Forbes.com, 1 June 2026

Verb

Burner size affects heating efficiency; mismatched skillet-to-burner sizes can cause uneven heating. —Sheena Chihak, Better Homes & Gardens, 24 May 2026

All rooms are designed by Jacques Grange, and outfitted to perfection with plush sofas, subtle lighting fixtures and mismatched modern tables. —Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 May 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