mismeasure

verb

mis·​mea·​sure ˌmis-ˈme-zhər How to pronounce mismeasure (audio)
-ˈmā-
mismeasured; mismeasuring

transitive verb

: to measure (something) badly or incorrectly : to make a mistake in measuring
… the mahogany paneling for the storefront had been mismeasured and arrived too large for the opening and had to be sent back.Alan J. Heavens
In the land of Julius Caesar—a brilliant politician who nonetheless mismeasured, fatally, the temper of the Roman Senate—it is hard to fathom why, as political animals, we can never seem to ingest the most basic laws of cause and effect.Ingrid D. Rowland
mismeasurement noun
plural mismeasurements
By opposing false standards of measurement in both human and animal populations—in his measured hostility to mismeasurement—[Stephen Jay] Gould will be seen as one of the last great American liberals … Michael Neve

Examples of mismeasure in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Then, if all goes smoothly, a journey down the Nile — which might, after all, also be mismeasured — could be next. Marina Dias, Washington Post, 12 June 2023 This was the quality that was mismeasured by the sensors and misinterpreted by the control unit of the Boeing 737 Max, contributing to the two crashes of that airliner. IEEE Spectrum, 21 May 2019

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

1743, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of mismeasure was in 1743

Dictionary Entries Near mismeasure

Cite this Entry

“Mismeasure.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mismeasure. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

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