misplace

verb mis·place \ ˌmis-ˈplās \

Updated on: 21 Apr 2018

Definition of misplace

transitive verb

1 a : to put in a wrong or inappropriate place

misplace a comma

b : mislay

misplaced the keys

2 : to set on a wrong object or eventuality

his trust had been misplaced

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misplacement

play \-ˈplās-mənt\ noun

See misplace defined for English-language learners

See misplace defined for kids

Examples of misplace in a Sentence

I seem to have misplaced my keys.

Recent Examples of misplace from the Web

Tom Contreras, Chris’ dad, said relentless practice and focus gave Reed confidence at an age when most junior golfers lack it or misplace it during match play.

— roy bragg, San Antonio Express-News, "SA native Reed is the same golf nerd he always was," 10 Apr. 2018
The optimism of Saudi Arabia and the UAE is misplaced, however.

— monitor editors, The Christian Science Monitor, "A US-China trade war is a lose-lose proposition, The West must bring Russia to the negotiating table, The UAE and Saudi Arabia’s enthusiasm for Pompeo will be brief, The EU should stop appeasing Erdogan, Time to take back control of our personal data," 7 Apr. 2018
But our increasingly complex game of Rock-Paper-Scissors shows why such hopes may be misplaced.

— megan molteni, WIRED, "Why Winning in Rock-Paper-Scissors Isn’t Everything," 7 Apr. 2018
Much was made about his time away, but the concern might have been misplaced.

— doug haller, azcentral, "What does ASU football look like under new coach Herm Edwards?," 28 Mar. 2018
Some say the current panic about China is similarly misplaced.

— greg ip, WSJ, "China Started the Trade War, Not Trump," 23 Mar. 2018
The city of Detroit is offering free credit monitoring to 511 individuals whose personal or medical information was temporarily misplaced for approximately two weeks.

— perry a. farrell, Detroit Free Press, "Detroit offers free credit monitoring to 511 people after flash drive goes missing," 1 Feb. 2018
Those drawings misplaced the location of the first bullet that struck Clark from the side near his shoulder.

— anita chabria, sam stanton and tony bizjak, sacbee, "Stephon Clark family legal team explains autopsy drawing error with wrong bullet entry | The Sacramento Bee," 2 Apr. 2018
But Chicago Public Schools — which owns the 488-foot-long mural Haring painted with schoolchildren in 1989 — has misplaced sections of the artwork worth millions.

— kim janssen, chicagotribune.com, "Who has the missing sections of CPS's multimillion-dollar Keith Haring mural?," 22 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'misplace.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of misplace

1555

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

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misplace Synonyms

MISPLACE Defined for English Language Learners

misplace

verb

Definition of misplace for English Language Learners

: to put (something) in the wrong place
: to lose (something) for a short time by forgetting where you put it
: to direct (a feeling, such as trust or confidence) toward someone or something that does not deserve it