misread

verb mis·read \ ˌmis-ˈrēd \

Definition of misread

misread play \-ˈred\; misreading play \-ˈrē-diŋ\

transitive verb

1 :to read incorrectly

2 :to misinterpret in or as if in reading

totally misread the lesson of history
—Christopher Hollis

See misread defined for English-language learners

See misread defined for kids

Examples of misread in a Sentence

I guess I misread the instructions.
They have misread the lessons of the past.
Politicians may have misread the mood of the public.
I badly misread the situation.

Recent Examples of misread from the Web

This story about the human senses misreading a celestial event as eternal darkness might be useful as many Americans prepare to experience a total solar eclipse on Aug. 21.

— The Christian Science Monitor, "Solar eclipses as lessons in lifting shadows of hate," 17 Aug. 2017
Apparently he is known in our community for glomming on to any available single woman and then completely misreading any interest.

— alison green, The Cut, "Ask a Boss: How Do I Get This Guy to Leave Me Alone?," 1 Aug. 2017
The information that climate researchers had collected was incomplete and easy to misread.

— danielle tcholakian, Longreads, "Despair All Ye Who Enter Into the Climate Change Fray," 11 July 2017
Team owner Vinnie Viola misread 66-year-old Dale Tallon.

— dave hyde, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Hyde: As Heat (and Panthers) show, 'Organizations make quarterbacks' | Commentary," 1 July 2017
Takada may have also misread the patience of Takata’s biggest lenders.

— jie ma, Bloomberg.com, "How a Billionaire Family Fell From Grace After the Takata Airbag Scandal," 28 June 2017
But the Kentuckian misread the degree to which members of his own conference wanted a seat at the table.

— james hohmann, Washington Post, "The Daily 202: Secrecy backfires on Mitch McConnell as Senate health-care bill teeters," 28 June 2017
Someone popular in internet video-game circles, who frequently shares messages touting the alt right, woefully misread both the dictionary blog post, and the concept of Milkshake Duck in general.

— luke o'neil, Esquire, "A Conversation with the Guy Who Invented the Milkshake Duck Meme," 24 June 2017
Now, when a student misreads a rhythm in music notation, McCleary pauses, pointing at the notes with his baton and letting her take her time to read it again, this time more slowly.

— janice steinhagen, Courant Community, "Music Is What Moves Griswold Teacher Of The Year," 23 June 2017

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

First Known Use of misread

1658

misread Synonyms

Synonyms

misapprehend, misconstrue, misinterpret, misknow, misperceive, misunderstand, miss, mistake

Antonyms

appreciate, apprehend, catch, comprehend, conceive, fathom, get, grasp, grok, know, make out, penetrate, perceive, savvy, see, seize, take in, understand

Related Words

misconceive, misdeem, misjudge; mishear

MISREAD Defined for English Language Learners

misread

verb

Definition of misread for English Language Learners

: to read (something) incorrectly
: to understand (something) incorrectly

MISREAD Defined for Kids

misread

verb mis·read \ mis-ˈrēd \

Definition of misread for Students

misread \-ˈred\; misreading \-ˈrēd-ing\

1 :to incorrectly pronounce or understand something written

2 :misunderstand

He misread the emotion on her face.

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See words that rhyme with misread Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for misread Spanish Central: Translation of misread Nglish: Translation of misread for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of misread for Arabic speakers

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MISREAD Defined for English Language Learners

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